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POSITIVE    POLITY 


LOSDOS  :    PIUSTED    BT 

SPOTTISWOODE    ASD    CO.,    NEW-STREET    BQDABB 

AND    PARLIAMENT    STREET 


SYSTEM 


OF 


POSITIVE    POLITY 


AUGUSTB   OOMTB 

ATITHOR      OF      'SYSTEM      OF      POSITIVE      PHILOSOPHY' 


FOURTH    VOLUME 


COKTAIKING    THE 


THEORY  OF  THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN 


WITH  AN  APPENDIX 

consisting  of 

MARLY  ESSAYS   ON  SOCIAL    PHILOSOPHY 


LONDON 
LONGMANS,    GEEEN,     AND    CO. 

1877 

All    rights    reserved 


TvtZ 


EEPUBLIC    OF    THE    WEST. 


Order   and   Progress — Lire   for   others. 
Live  without  concealment. 


SYSTEM   OF    POSITIVE   POLITY, 

OK 

TEEATISE    ON    SOCIOLOGY, 
Instituting    the    Religion    of    HUMANITY  ; 


By  Augusts  COMTE, 

Author    of    ^System    of   Positive    Philosophy,* 

The  principle,  Love ; 

The  basis,  Order, 
The    end,   Progress. 

FOURTH   AND   LAST   VOLUME, 

Containing  THE  STKTHETICAL  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  FUTITEE  OF  MAN. 


TIlix  cuiichidiiiij  rolume  ends  mUh  a  GENERAL  APPENDIX mldcli  rrprmhic 
nil  the  Early  Essays  of  tlie  author  on  Social  Philosojihy. 


PAEIS 
CARILIAN-GOEURY  and  Vo«  DALMONT 

August  1854. 

Sixty-sixth  ye;ir  of  the  great  revolution. 


339 


NOTICE. 

This  volume  was  published  by  the  Author  in  August 
1854. 

All   the    '  Positive  Pohty  '  has  beeu  translated  by 

ElCHAKD    CONGKEVE. 

The  General  Appendix,  published  by  the  Author  in 
1854,  which  contains  all  the  Early  Essays  ot 
the  author  on  Social  Philosophy,  has  been 
translated  by  Henry  Dix  Hutton. 

The  Marginal  Notes  and  the  Table  of  Contents  have 
been  added  by  the  Translators,  aided,  so  far  as 
the  first  part  of  the  volume  is  concerned,  by 
Samuel  Lobb. 

The  Index  is  the  work  of  Fredekic  Harrison. 


PBEFACE 

TO 

THE     FOUETH    VOLUME. 


This  concluding  volume,  as  its  predecessor,  has  occupied  in  the 
writing  six  months  of  uninterrupted  work  (January  29 — July  25, 
1854), 

The  material  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  publication  have 
been  met  by  one  of  my  best  disciples,  nobly  following  the 
generous  initiative  of  patronage  taken  in  regard  to  the  first 
volume.  As  a  consequence  of  the  general  industrial  pressure 
due  to  the  Russian  war,  my  printer  felt  bound  in  prudence, 
though  with  unimpaired  confidence,  not  to  advance  the  money 
required  for  printing  the  present  volume  till  the  cost  of  the 
preceding  had  been  fully  covered.  That  volume,  however, 
had  been  too  recently  published  for  its  sale  to  be  sufficient  to 
meet  this  fair  condition,  rendered  imperative  by  the  force  of 
circumstances  ;  I  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  apply  directly  for 
exceptional  aid.  Once  aware  of  the  need,  M.  Audiffrent  lost  no 
time  in  completely  meeting  it,  so  that  the  printing  of  the 
present  volume  has  proceeded  so  rapidly  that  it  will  appear  a 
few  weeks  after  its  writing.  At  first  my  young  patron's 
touching  modesty  led  him  to  forbid  my  giving  his  conduct  the 
publicity  it  deserves ;  ultimately,  however,  by  appealing  to 
Positivist  principles,  I  obtained  the  proper  authorisation.  The 
first  and  last  volumes,  then,  of  my  principal  work  must  be 
honourably  connected  with  the  names  of  Messrs.  Lonchampt 
and  Audiffrent,  without  ever  forgetting  the  generous  anony- 


X  PEEFACE  TO 

mous  supporters  who,  in  1848,  enabled  me  to  publish  separately 
the  General  View.  This  list  of  efforts  should  hand  down  to 
memory  also  two  similar  offers  made-  me  during  the  other 
phases  of  my  long  work,  rendered  unnecessary  though  they 
were  by  the  confidence  of  M.  Thunot. 

Thus,  beyond  my  hopes,  I  see  realised  the  legitimate 
consequences  of  the  resolution,  which  I  adopted  and  pro- 
claimed in  1850,  to  devote,  viz.,  for  the  future  the  returns 
of  aU  my  writings  to  meeting  the  cost  of  printing,  taking 
nothing  for  personal  use.  Such  anticipation  of  the  habits  of 
the  future  may  not  have  determined  the  noble  advances  I 
have  mentioned  above,  but  without  it  I  could  not  have  ac- 
cepted them,  uniting  as  it  does  my  patrons  with  the  worthy 
printer  whose  confidence  in  me  is  the  main  basis  on  which  I 
rest  for  the  free  expression  of  my  thoughts. 

Again,  this  same  rule  led  me  finally  to  a  modification  of  my 
refusal  (see  the  1st  Circular),  a  refusal  warranted  by  my  princi- 
ples, to  accept  a  proposal  made  to  me,  as  admirable  as  it  was 
exceptional.  That  Circular  adequately  expresses  the  value  I 
justly  attach  to  the  unparalleled  condensation  of  my  funda- 
mental work,  the  Positive  Philosophy,  by  Miss  Martineau.  So 
settled  is  my  opinion  on  this  point  that,  in  the  last  revision  of 
the  Positivist  Library  given  in  this  volume,  I  have  definitively 
substituted  her  work  for  the  original,  the  study  of  the  original 
for  the  future  being  suited  only  to  the  theorician  properly 
so-called.  Without  further  insisting  on  this  final  estimate, 
which  merely  gives  my  sanction  to  the  general  judgment,  I 
must  explain  my  view  of  the  proposal  to  which  the  publication 
alluded  to  gave  rise  last  year.  The  prevailing  literary  morality 
is  such  as  to  enhance  the  merit  of  the  scrupulous  delicacy 
which  decided  my  noble  colleague  to  assign  me  the  third  of  the 
net  profits  of  the  work ;  its  printing  expenses  had  been  ad- 
vanced by  a  liberal  patron ;  of  the  remaining  two-thirds  she 
gave  one  to  the  publisher,  the  other  she  kept  for  herself. 

At  first  I   felt  bound  to   decline  the  proposal,  as,  in  its 
original  shape,  involving  a  breach  of  my  practice  of  renouncing 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  xi 

all  profit  for  myself  from  my  books.  In  the  end,  however, 
I  was  able,  without  infringing  this  obligation,  to  meet  the 
cordial  wish  of  Miss  Martinean,  by  devoting  the  money  she 
offered  to  the  more  rapid  clearance  of  the  cost  of  printing  the 
treatise  now  concluded.  My  rule  thus  gains  in  completeness, 
as  all  my  books  are  brought,  as  it  were,  into  one  common 
interest,  a  condition  indispensably  required  and  acted  on  by  me 
already,  instinctively,  in  reference  to  the  volumes  of  the  present 
work. 

Over  and  above  its  direct  object,  this  explanation,  as  those 
which  have  gone  before  it,  is  calculated  to  illustrate  the  cha- 
racter of  the  synthesis  which  presents  itself  to-day,  claiming 
the  general  direction  of  this  world.  In  it  the  conduct  of  true 
Positivists  contrasts,  as  markedly  as  their  belief  contrasts,  with 
that  of  the  ill-regulated  milieu,  the  government  of  which  de- 
volves on  them — its  spiritual  government  in  the  first  instance, 
then  its  temporal — as  the  issue  of  the  whole  course  of  man's 
destiny.  For  completeness'  sake,  I  must  include  a  reference 
to  the  posthumous  patronage  of  Wallace  and  of  Lombe,  with 
which  my  readers  and  those  of  Miss  Martineau  must  be  familiar, 
as  also  to  the  protection  which  M.  Vieillard,  to  his  honour, 
procures  for  the  doctrine  judged  by  him  the  only  one  capable  of 
saving  the  West. 

The  mental  indiscipline  now  prevalent  precludes  the  hope 
that  this  volume  will  be  always  read  in  its  due  order,  after  a 
sufficient  study  of  those  which  precede  it.  In  itself  more 
attractive  and  more  directly  practical  in  bearing,  it  will  bring 
me  fresh  readers,  several  of  whom  will  perhaps  begin  with  the 
last  chapter,  where  religion  passes  into  politics.  But  it  is  also 
the  most  systematic ;  and  so  its  study  will  lead  to  the  speedy 
recognition,  not  merely  of  the  inseparability  of  its  five  chapters 
in  themselves,  but  also  of  their  regular  connection  with  the 
whole  of  my  statical  and  dynamical  theories  ;  it  will  therefore 
revive  rather  than  lessen  the  attention  paid  to  the  other  three 
volumes.  I  am  even  inclined  to  believe  that  there  are  students 
of  ability  waiting  (I  should  do  so  in  their  place)  for  the  com- 


xii  PREFACE  TO 

pletion  of  a  construction  which  is  indivisible  before  they  betake 
themselves  to  its  full  examination  under  all  its  aspects.  They 
were  warned  of  what  was  coming  by  the  separate  publication  in 
1848  of  the  General  View.  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  do  not  regret 
the  pressure  which  obliged  me  to  publish  each  volume  sepa- 
rately, and  I  count  on  the  speedy  correction  of  the  imperfect  or 
hasty  judgments  which  must  often  have  resulted  from  an 
undisciplined  eagerness. 

As  to  the  style  and  composition  of  the  work,  I  must  here 
add  for  completeness   something  to   the  explanations  on   the 
point  given  in  the  preface-^  to  the  first  volume.     The  adverse 
criticisms  called  forth  by  the  Positive  Philosophy,  as  a  literary 
production,  had  been  anticipated  by  myself ;  I  was  quite  aware 
of  its  defects,  though  I  have  never  felt  otherwise  than  glad  that 
I  overcame  my  scruples  on  the  subject,  on  grounds  the  justice 
of  which  is  now  indisputable.     But,  as  the  necessity  for  haste 
was  past,  I  exerted  myself  when  entering  on  the  present  work, 
to  improve  the  expression,  still  adhering,  however,  to  my  practice 
of  re-writing  nothing.     As  yet  the  most  fastidious  j  udges  have 
been  satisfied  with  the  increasing  success  attained  by  this  care, 
and  I  hope  that  the  last  volume  will  strengthen  them  in  their 
judgment.     The  literateur  has  only  to  clothe  the  thoughts  of 
others,  he  may  concentrate  his  faculties  therefore  on  perfecting 
his  language.     He  naturally  is  led  by  this  habit  to  judge  too 
harshly  the  writer  who,  compelled  to  work  out  new  conceptions 
in  the  old  language,  can  hardly  avoid  defects  in  composition,  as 
he  balances  between  diffuseness  and  obscurity.     Deeper  medi- 
tation, and  such  requires  a  first  expression  as  its  condition, 
connects    the    particular    creations   of  the   writer   with   their 
germs  in  the  thought  of  mankind  as  represented  in  its  lan- 
guage ;  then  the  defects  drop  off  of  themselves,  not  to  speak  of 
more  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

To  turn  to  the  best  account  my  literary  effort,  it  is  desirable 
to  state  clearly  the  several  rules  which  in  the  course  of  it  I 
have  imposed  on  myself,  principally  in  the  second  half  of 
my   religious   construction,   and   most   especially  in  the   con- 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  xiii 

eluding  volume.  To  avoid  too  long  sentences  I  have  never  let 
any  exceed  two  manuscript  or  five  printed  lines.  The  eye 
and  the  mind  require  pauses  ;  this  is  secured  by  making  seven 
sentences  the  maximum  of  a  paragraph,  nor  are  these  para- 
graphs determined  simply  by  typographical  considerations. 
Prose  cannot,  it  is  true,  aspire  to  the  musical  perfection  of 
poetry,  yet  I  have  exerted  myself  to  approach  it  by  not  allowing 
myself  any  hiatus  between  even  two  sentences  or  two  paragraphs. 
Fiurther,  I  have  avoided  the  repetition  of  any  word  whatever, 
not  merely  in  the  same  sentence  but  even  in  two  consecutive 
Sentences  though  in  different  paragraphs  ;  allowing  always  for 
the  auxiliary  monosyllables. 

Whilst  practising  these  self-imposed  obligations,  I  have  always 
felt  the  importance  of  applying  in  all  cases  Descartes'  rule  Scru- 
pulously to  observe  the  institutions  we  create,  which  he  rightly 
likens  to  laws  of  nature,  however  indifferent  they  may  seem  at 
first  sight.  The  discipline  to  which  we  thus  submit  is  as  whole- 
some for  the  intellect  as  for  the  heart,  and  rests  upon  a  true 
knowledge  of  the  constitution  of  man,  in  regard  to  which  im- 
provement depends  principally  on  submission.  The  literary 
value  of  this  discipline  is  fully  seen  in  the  superiority  of  poetic 
diction,  though  more  fettered  than  common  language.  When 
habit  made  the  new  yoke  easy  I  found  it  a  constant  source  of 
unlooked-for  improvements,  not  merely  in  style,  but  even  in 
thought.  Literary  defects  are  easiest  to  discover  and  most 
open  to  modification,  to  correct  them  then  is  a  greater  victory 
over  the  natural  inertia  of  our  intelligence,  and  in  correcting 
them  we  are  led  to  perfect  our  conceptions  as  we  reflect  on  their 
expression. 

Taking  the  volume  as  a  whole,  the  religious  construction 
has  become  at  once  more  systematic,  more  moral,  and  more 
practical,  by  definitively  placing  the  worship  before  the  doctrine. 
I  regret  that  this  correction  is  subsequent  to  the  composition 
of  the  Positivist  Catechism,^  as  it  would  have  increased  the 

•  This  correction  has  been  introduced  in  the  second  French  Edition  and  in 
the  English  Translation. — Ed. 


xiv  PEEFACE  TO 

efficiency  of  that  work.  Without  waiting,  however,  for  a  second 
edition,  the  improvement  may  be  effected  by  dividing  into  two 
the  long  conversation  on  the  doctrinal  system  as  a  whole.  The  first 
half,  bearing  directly  on  the  theory  of  the  Great  Being,  should 
for  the  future  form  a  separate  chapter  and  follow  on  the  Intro- 
duction. Then  we  may  pass  at  once  to  the  study  of  the  worship, 
and  after  it  to  that  of  the  doctrine,  the  general  conversation  on 
which  will  thus  be  limited  to  its  second  half,  the  half  which 
alone  relates  to  the  encyclopaedic  constitution. 

This  breaking  up  of  a  long  chapter  allows  the  adoption  of 
the  definitive  arrangement,  the  transposition  being  easy  and 
involving  no  change  in  the  exposition  as  it  exists.  I  take  the 
opportunity  to  urge  the  readers  of  my  Catechism  to  divide 
similarly  the  last  chapter,  studying  the  past,  first  in  its  stages 
of  Fetichism  and  Theocracy,  which  were  common  to  all  nations, 
then  in  the  threefold  transition  which  is  peculiar  to  the  West. 
By  these  two  changes  the  small  work,  which  is  the  organ  of 
propagation,  should  for  the  future  be  considered  as  consisting 
of  thirteen  chapters  instead  of  eleven. 

So  much  is  sufficient  for  the  explanations  peculiar  to  the 
concluding  volume ;  I  pass  to  those  required  by  my  former 
prefaces.  Not  tying  myself  to  chronological  order,  I  take  the 
second  volume  first.  It  leads  to  remarks  which,  besides  their 
intrinsic  importance,  tend  to  systematise  and  complete  the 
general  freedom  which  I  have  been  impelled  to  assert  to  the 
full  in  all  my  prefaces. 

First,  I  should  state  that  my  third  attempt  to  found  the 
Occidental  Review  has  proved  a  total  failure.  By  making  it  a 
Quarterly,  by  renouncing  all  claim  to  any  payment,  either  as 
director  or  as  contributor,  I  had,  in  1852,  reduced  the  cost  as 
much  as  possible.  Notwithstanding,  the  money  required  was 
not  forthcoming,  either  as  a  collective  effort  or  from  individual 
patronage.  No  one  disputed  the  utility  of  the  undertaking, 
philosophically  or  politically ;  this  fresh  failure,  therefore,  has 
led  me  to  abandon  the  plan  for  ever,  even  were  some  honourable 
patron  to  remove  all  financial  difficulties.     The  select  public 


THE  FOUETH  VOLUME.  xv 

which  I  address  felt  more  clearly  than  I  did  that  there  was  a 
particular  incongruity  between  the  proposal  and  the  general 
tendency  of  a  doctrine,  which  by  its  natural  action  involves  the 
suppression  of  journaHsin. 

The  obligation  to  speak  at  a  given  time  and  within  given 
bounds  becomes,  it  is  true,  less  objectionable  in  proportion  as 
the  interval  is  longer,  and  yet  a  periodical  judgment  can  never 
be  applicable  when  that  which  is  judged,  the  spectacle  of  human 
events,  is  intermittent.  Closing  as  it  does  the  spiritual  inter- 
regnum, Positive  religion  will  naturally  put  an  end  to  the 
power  which,  owing  to  that  interregnum,  the  literateurs  of  the 
West  have  occupied.  Hence  the  priesthood  of  Humanity 
should  deny  itself  all  share  in  an  institution  which  it  will 
shortly  have  to  condemn  as  radically  anarchical.  The  worship 
and  its  teaching  give  it  opportunities,  even  now,  as  much  as  in 
the  normal  state,  for  its  oral  instruction  on  the  events  of  the 
day.  Beyond  general  treatises,  either  original  or  for  didactic 
purposes — ^the  work  of  propagation,  and  the  application,  so  far 
as  they  are  in  writing,  require  only  small  works  upon  particular 
points,  and  to  make  them  periodical  would  be  an  uncalled-for 
incumbrance.  Thus  was  I  led  to  see  that  the  failure,  after  three 
attempts,  of  a  project  which  was  not  based  on  rational  grounds, 
so  far  from  indicating  an  unwise  indifference,  was  due  to  the 
secret  consciousness  that  it  was  intrinsically  incompatible  with 
the  spirit  and  object  of  Positivism.  I  determined,  therefore, 
to  recall  the  efforts  of  all,  and  the  sacrifices  those  efforts 
involved,  to  the  extension  of  the  sacerdotal  fund,  the  centre  for 
the  future  for  aU  expenses  whatsoever  attendant  on  the  instal- 
lation of  the  universal  religion. 

To  give  its  true  character  to  my  abandonment  of  all  peri- 
odical publications,  I  confront  it  with  my  anticipation  of  a 
serious  struggle  now  imminent,  in  which  it  would  seem  that 
the  priesthood  which  is  to  regenerate  the  race  needs  the  instru- 
ment I  reject. 

The  growth  of  Positivism  was  long  hampered,  especially  in 
France,  by  a  concerted  silence,  which  still  continues  in  Ger- 


xvi  PREFACE  TO 

many.  Since  it  has  overcome  this  compression,  as  a  consequence 
of  its  progress  the  opposition  of  the  metaphysicians  and  litera- 
teurs  has  undergone  a  transformation.  They  are  incapable,  for 
they  have  no  convictions  of  their  own,  of  resisting  the  impulse 
towards  regeneration ;  they  therefore  try  to  break  its  force  by 
an  attack  on  my  religious  construction  in  the  name  of  its  philo- 
sophical basis — not  able  to  see  or  not  williag  to  own  that  my 
synthesis  is  one  and  indivisible.  The  very  men  who  long  dis- 
puted the  possibility  of  giving  philosophy  a  positive  character 
are  now  doing  all  in  their  power  to  show  that  the  fusion  (shown 
to  be  possible)  cannot  proceed  farther  so  as  to  embrace  religion. 
The  opposition  seems  the  more  serious  that  it  has  its  main 
source  in  the  very  quarter,  in  England  that  is,  where  as  yet  my 
labours  have  had  the  best  reception. 

But  Positivism  will  overcome  the  active  with  more  ease  than 
the  passive  resistance,  and  that  without  feeling  in  the  one  case 
more  than  in  the  other  the  want  of  a  periodical  organ.  No 
discussion  is  needed  to  prove  that  religion  equally  with  philo- 
sophy, and  on  the  basis  of  philosophy,  can  take  a  Positive  cha- 
racter, now  that  the  reconstruction  implied  in  both  cases  is  an 
accomplished  fact.  All  that  is  necessary  is  that  Positivism 
abandon,  and  that  especially  in  England,  the  attempt  to  convert 
the  class  which  supports  the  periodical  press  either  by  its  contri- 
butions or  as  its  readers.  Apart  from  a  class  which  is  tran- 
sitional and  radically  hostile  to  the  separation  of  the  two 
powers,  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity  will  rally  the  nobler  minds, 
whom  the  constant  sense  of  the  paramount  importance  of  social 
objects  has  not  hitherto  led  to  action,  solely  from  the  absence 
of  a  guiding  doctrine.  The  Positive  system  may  become  com- 
plete, be  condensed,  and  draw  out  its  conclusions,  without  any 
opposition  from  the  men  of. action;  so  far  from  it,  they  are 
waiting  for  it  thus  to  qualify  itself  to  direct  the  necessary  close 
of  a  revolution  which  the  lettered  class  everywhere  tends  to 
prolong  indefinitely.  It  was  amongst  the  active  class  that  the 
term  Positive  religion  originated,  my  own  habitual  use  of  it 
being  subsequent  to  my  seeing  it   adopted  spontaneously  by 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  xvii 

eminent  proletaries.  Addressing  directly  its  true  supporters, 
Positivism  will  let  the  partisans  of  the  Parliamentary  system 
and  of  organised  hypocrisy  continue  their  futile  attacks,  never 
allowing  them  to  disturb  its  normal  course. 

As  I  have  definitively  abandoned  all  periodical  publications 
I  am  led  to  reduce  to  system  the  freedom  I  had  adopted  in  my 
prefaces,  and  to  avail  myself  of  it,  as  to  communications  which 
can  find  no  other  fitting  place.  These  prefaces  are  as  free  as 
any  journal  or  review  from  any  tie  of  method,  and  so  give  me 
the  opportunity  of  fully  explaining  to  my  readers  such  points 
in  reference  to  my  whole  labours  as  cannot  be  embodied  in 
the  works  themselves.  So,  for  the  future,  this  is  the  plan  I 
adopt  for  occasional  communications ;  I  combine  the  resources 
offered  me  by  my  prefaces  with  those  afforded  by  my  circulars 
and  my  lectures  and  shall  thus  be  independent  of  any  periodical 
organ. 

Availing  myself  of  this  freedom,  I  insert  in  this  place  an 
important  announcement,  and  then  proceed  to  complete  the 
explanations  required  by  my  former  prefaces.  There  will 
always  be  an  interval  of  a  year  between  each  of  the  three 
treatises  promised  in  this  volume,  a  year  of  rest  taken  not  so 
much  to  repair  my  strength  as  to  refresh  my  conceptions. 
During  each  of  these  intervals,  a  course  of  lectures  will  take  the 
place  of  a  published  volume,  the  said  course  never  to  be  repeated. 

In  accordance  with  this  rule,  I  shall  devote  my  period  of  rest 
in  1855  to  the  construction  of  the  Concrete  Philosophy  of 
history,  by  a  full  exposition  of  the  dynamical  part  of  the  Con- 
spectus of  Sociolatry  given  in  this  volume  (page  141).  Prior  to 
such  exposition  of  the  main  constituent  of  the  second  philosophy, 
there  will  come  a  summary  of  the  first  philosophy,  and  conse- 
quent on  such  exposition,  an  aperi^u  of  the  third,  the  whole 
forming  an  Esthetic  Course  of  Positive  Philosophy.  It  will 
consist  of  forty-three  lectures,  of  two  to  three  hours  each,  three 
days  in  the  week  (Tuesdays,  Fridays,  and  Sundays),  at  noon 
precisely,  from  Sunday,  April  15,  to  Sunday,  July  22,  1854. 

I  m.ay  now  proceed  with  the  explanations  required  by  the 
VOL.  IT.  a 


XVlU  PEEFACE  TO 

prefaces  of  the  three  preceding  volumes,  either  as  corrections  or 
completion. 

Those  relating  to  the  first  two  volumes  bear  more  particularly 
on  two  judgments  which  have  come  into  closer  and  closer  con- 
nection, though  without  fusion ;  I  allude  to  my  estimate  of  the 
advance  of  Positivism  and  the  extension  of  the  sacerdotal  fund. 
Bringing  them  at  once  under  view,  I  must  here  dispel  the 
illusions  as  to  the  centres  of  Pbsitivist  action  which  I  involun- 
tarily spread  on  the  faith  of  incorrect  reports.  It  -will  be 
seen  that  there  was  never  any  question  as  to  the  Parisian 
centre ;  there  I  could,  by  direct  contact,  judge  of  the  complete- 
ness and  firm  cohesion  of  mens'  convictions.  That  centre 
alone,  offers  already  but  the  beginning,  it  is  true,  but  all  turns 
on  that  beginning,  of  the  true  regeneration,  a  regeneration  to 
the  full  as  social  in  character  as  it  is  intellectual,  both  sexes 
nobly  co-operating.  Diderot  and  Condorcet  could  not  have 
hoped  that,  within  a  century  from  the  Encyclopaedia,  their 
successor  would  be  uniting  noble  couples  in  the  engagement  of 
eternal  widowhood,  and  would  be  consecrating  to  Humanity 
children  wholly  detached  from  God.  Obscure  and  limited  as 
such  results  may  be,  their  bearing  is  incontestable,  completed 
as  they  are  by  the  higher  moral  tone  of  the  families  regene- 
rated. They  are  an  announcement,  that  the  capital  of  the 
human  race  wiU  at  no  distant  period  belong  to  the  Positivists, 
when  liberty  in  spiritual  matters  shaU  allow  of  their  prac- 
tising their  public  worship  as  freely  as  their  private  prayers 
or  their  domestic  sacraments. 

Out  of  Paris,  the  supreme  centre,  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity 
at  the  present  time  has  but  two  other  nuclei  of  a  satisfactory 
kind ;  one,  in  Holland,  is  essentially  practical  in  its  character, 
the  other,  in  Ireland,  is  mainly  theoretical.  This  latter,  though 
of  more  recent  formation,  already  shows  itself  worthy  of  the 
former  by  the  completeness  and  coherence  of  its  convictions 
the  philosophy  with  it  passing  into  the  religion.  Everywhere 
else.  Positivism  has  as  yet  only  isolated  adherents,  even  amongst 
the  Anglo-  Saxon  race,  in  England  or  America,  where  there  is 


THE  rOUETH  VOLUME.  xix 

the  greatest  aptitude  for  association,  and  the  freest  access  for 
our  propaganda.  With  the  exception  of  some  individual  con- 
versions, as  rare  as  they  are  valuable,  the  Religion  of  Humanity 
has  not  yet  reached  the  southern  constituents  of  the  West,  and 
yet  it  is  with  them  that  it  will  ultimately  attain  its  greatest 
popularity.  In  the  provinces  of  France,  it  has  but  three  secon- 
dary centres  ;  contrary  to  my  hopes,  these  remain  purely  in  ■  the 
nascent  state,  and  have  no  importance  as  yet  save  what  attaches 
to  their  respective  heads. 

The  extension  of  the  sacerdotal  fund,  set  forth  in  the  Fifth 
Circular,  is  a  measure  of  the  growth  of  Positivism.  With  the 
exception  of  the  centre  and  the  two  nuclei,  that  fund  is  princi- 
pally drawn  from  individual  subscriptions,  and  there  are  but 
few  of  them  as  yet  in  the  British  public,  though  Positivism  is 
widely  known.  Its  English  adherents  are  too  abstract,  and  are 
content  to  propagate  the  new  philosophy  without  helping  its 
founder  to  meet  the  privations  he  suffers  from  an  infamous  act 
of  spoliation.  Their  indifference  is  thrown  into  stronger  light 
by  the  conduct  of  the  noble  opponents  who,  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  anarchical  of  Western  nations,  feel  it  a  social  obligation 
to  assist  anyone  who  worthily  devotes  himself  to  the  task  of 
spiritual  reorganisation.  In  spite  of  this  honourable  exception, 
the  security  due  to  the  continuous  increase  of  the  sacerdotal 
fund  is  owing  to  its  coining  mainly  from  complete  Positivists, 
now  that  the  revolutionists  have  fortunately  given  me  up. 

Their  conduct  in  this  respect  reminds  me  of  the  confirm- 
ation given  by  two  characteristic  facts  to  the  anticipations,  as 
stated  in  the  preface  to  the  third  volume,  of  the  growing 
hostility  of  the  party  towards  me.  The  aversion  which  Posi- 
tivism excites  in  the  minds  of  the  German  or  British  meta- 
physicians may  vent  itself  in  discussions,  because  they  consider 
themselves  competent  to  discuss  the  new  synthesis.  But  the 
revolutionary  party  in  France,  too  conscious  of  its  incompetence 
for  such  an  effort,  can  gratify  its  hatred  only  by  calumnies,  the 
object  being  to  lead  the  people  to  turn  away  from  me  without 
axamination.     They  have  spoken  of  my  address  to  the  Czar  as  a 

a2 


XX  PREFACE  TO 

dedication  of  the  third  volume ;  forgetting  that  the  whole  work 
was  from  the  very  beginning  placed  under  a  patronage  which 
excludes  any  other  homage.  The  same  party  again  I  hold 
responsible  for  the  hypothesis — I  have  no  language  to  express 
it — which  assigns  misconduct  on  my  part  as  the  ground  of  my 
persecution  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique :  degraded,  in  its  own 
way,  as  the  body  which  robbed  me  is,  it  would  not  venture  on 
such  a  calumny  from  fear  of  its  easy  refutation. 

Such  are  the  arms  to  which,  in  its  struggle  with  the  religion 
of  order  and  progress,  is  reduced  the  most  noxious  and  the  most 
belated  of  existing  parties.  It  alone  denies  the  need  of  a 
spiritual  reconstruction,  which  it  feels  itself  incapable  of  giving;' 
it  bends  its  efforts  to  concentrate  the  aspirations  of  the  people 
on  the  direct  attainment  of  material  reforms,  and  these  reforms 
are  principally  destructive.  Unacquainted  with  the  more  im- 
portant advances  made  in  the  nineteenth  century,  it  would 
solve  the  .difficulties  of  the  West  with  the  religion  of  Voltaire, 
the  philosophy  of  Condillac,  the  moral  system  of  Helvetius  and 
the  political  theory  of  Eousseau,  rejecting  Hume,  Diderot,  and 
Condorcet. 

Little  ground  is  there  for  surprise  if,  with  the  exception  of 
younger  minds,  estimable  though  mistaken,  all  men  of  any 
value  are  more  and  more  abandoning  a  party  which  is  under  a 
radical  misconception  as  to  the  work  to  be  done.  I  am  glad  to 
say  here  that,  after  the  hesitation  mentioned  in  the  preface  to 
Volume  III.,  M.  Etex  seems  to  be  definitively  under  the  influence 
of  the  tendencies  to  synthesis  and  sympathy  which  originally 
led  him  to  Positivism.  At  a  time  when  everyone  oscillates  and 
rebels,  there  is  a  special  ground  for  excuse  in  the  case  of  artists, 
more  impulsive  and  less  fettered  than  the  theoricians  and 
practicians. 

Such  is  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  points  peculiar  to  this 
preface.  I  must  use  it  to  discharge  an  extraordinary  obligation 
imposed  on  me  by  the  manifesto  annexed  to  its  predecessor. 
The  books  intended  to  be  sent  were  not  sent,  no  answer  what- 
ever having  been  received  to   the  not«   which  I  mentioned 


THE  FOUETH  VOLUME.  xxi 

asking  for  the  proper  authorisation,  however,  this  act  of 
rudeness  from  a  ruler  absorbed  in  the  G^ek  Empire  does  not 
interfere  with  the  communication ;  it  may  be  considered  to  have 
taken  place  now  that  my  third  volume  is  published. 

I  feel  no  regret  at  having  taken  the  Czar  Nicholas  as  a  type 
of  the  conservative,  who  being  empirical  might  become  syste- 
matic.    The  judgment  may  be  too  favourable  of  him ;  if  so,  it 
may  suit  his  successor,  adapted  as  it  is  to  the  position  which 
they  fill.     My  choice  of  such  a  mode  for  bringing  under  the 
notice   of  eminent   practicians  a   complete  summary  of  Posi- 
tivism, shows  how  completely  I  have  risen  above  revolutionary 
prejudices  and  habits.     So  far  as  the  anarchists  are  concerned, 
the  Eussian  war  has  only  enabled  them  to  give  free  scope  to  the 
dislike  they  feel  for   a   manifesto   calculated   to   facilitate  the 
propagation  of  the  regenerative  doctrine.     Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
letter  was  a  real  event,  which  in  its  historical  character  I  shall 
be  bound  always  to  respect,  even  if  ultimately  obliged  entirely  to 
alter  my  judgment  of  the  present  Emperor  of  Eussia. 

But  blameable  as  his  foreign  policy  is  at  present,  it  may  not 
cancel  as  yet  the  honourable  efforts  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  to 
better  the  internal   condition   of  his   immense   empire.      The 
favourable  character   of  my    original   opinion  warrants  me   in 
warning  the  Czar  that,  by  persistence  in  his  error,  he  will  annul 
in  the  judgment  of  posterity  the  claims  accumulated  by  a  long 
career.     This  is  the  danger  to  which  all  practicians  are  exposed, 
from  their  services  being  transitory  in  nature  and  limited  in 
extent,  and  therefore  seldom  of  such  value  as  not  to  be  effaced 
by   really  grave  misconduct.     Intellectual  results,  as  of  wider 
range  and  greater  permanence,  alone  ensure  a  distinction  which 
no  subsequent  degeneracy  of  their  authors  can  effect.     There- 
fore it  is  that  the  practician  can  rarely  be  judged  in  his  life- 
time, whereas  the  theorician  need  not  wait  for  death  to  bring 
him  an  indestructible  glory,  supposing  his  work  admits  of  an 
adequate  judgment. 

Were  the  conduct  of  Eussia  an  aberration  of  the  nation,  I 
should  not  be  justified  in  attempting  here  to  set  it  right.     But 


xxil  PREFACE  TO 


in  spite  of  appearances,  I  persist  in  believing  that,  as  indicated 
in  my  previous  preface,  the  error  is  the  error  of  the  individual, 
and  lies  in  his  not  withstanding  the  foolish  and  guilty  impulses 
of  his  misguided  advisers.  As  a  consequence  of  the  disastrous 
policy  originated  by  a  misdirected  energy,  the  Czars  live  in  the 
midst  of  G-erman  adventurers ;  and  it  is  these  adventurers  alone 
who  are  urging  the  Eussian  nation  to  attempt  a  conquest,  the 
great  object  of  which  is  to  secure  for  themselves  in  the  south 
more  advantageous  grants  than  their  northern  domains.  The 
suggestions  of  these  adventurers,  having  no  root  in  the  popular 
feeling,  might  at  any  time  cease  under  an  Emperor  of  energy, 
prior  to  their  occasioning  struggles  with  other  nations  such  as 
those  by  which  they  have  been  hitherto  kept  down.  We  must 
hope,  then,  that  wise  remonstrances  will  determine  the  Czar 
Nicholas  to  desist  from  an  encroachment  at  variance  with  his 
own  tendencies,  and  m.ore  unwise  than  at  any  former  time. 

One  conclusive  comparison  ought  to  suffice  to  enlighten  the 
Czar  on  the  danger  of  his  attitude,  which  is  in  direct  opposition 
with  the  whole  current  of  ideas  prevalent  in  this  century.  The 
heir  of  the  dictator  who  disturbed  aU  Europe  for  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  misguided  ambition  formally  acknowledges  that  the 
age  of  conquests  is  closed  for  ever.  Whereas  the  successor  of 
the  autocrat  who  broke  by  a  noble  effort  the  yoke  which  had 
become  intolerable,  stains  his  mature  years  by  an  act  of  usurp- 
ation analogous  to  that  against  which  he  fought  in  his  youth. 
Eetrograde  abroad,  the  latter  tends  to  be  retrogade  at  home ; 
whilst  the  former,  by  regenerating  his  foreign,  wUl  be  shortly  led 
to  modify  his  home,  policy.  Forty  years  ago,  the  West  coalesced 
against  the  compression  exercised  by  the  French  nation  ;  it  is 
now  rallying  under  its  leadership  to  check  the  encroachments  of 
a  power  which  at  that  time  directed  the  Holy  Alliance,  the 
avowed  object  of  which  was  to  found  miiversal  peace. 

The  whole  past  of  Eussia  should  show  the  Czar  the  radical 
flaw  in  his  present  aberration,  and  at  the  same  time  calm  the 
Western  nations  as  to  its  real  danger.  Whilst  yet  heathen,  the 
Eastern  Scandinavians   attempted  the    conquest  of  the  Greek 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  xxiii 

Empire,  and  were  repulsed  by  its  unaided  forces.  By  embracing 
Byzantine  Christianity,  they  signified  their  acceptance  of  the 
law  of  permanence  in  regard  to  their  settlement,  just  as  their 
Western  brothers  did  by  the  adoption  of  Catholicism.  By  such 
acceptance  they  devoted  themselves  essentially  to  peaceful 
activity,  and  they  lost  at  once  their  enthusiasm  and  their  dis- 
cipline under  the  influence  of  an  abortive  monotheism.  Whilst 
Catholicism  and  Islam  sanctioned,  the  first,  the  separation,  the 
second,  the  fusion  of  the  two  powers,  Byzantinism  never  reached 
any  social  result,  in  consequence  of  the  radical  contradiction 
between  its  dogma  and  its  regime. 

To  place  in  its  true  light  the  Eussian  disturbance,  we  must 
explain  how  it  runs  directly  counter  to  the  whole  course  of  the 
international  policy,  which  since  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages 
more  and  more  secures  the  status  quo.  The  judicious  efforts  of 
modern  diplomacy  have  regulated  the  relations  of  the  different 
nations  as  far  as  they  could,  considering  the  decay  of  the 
Western  priesthood.  Uninterrupted  by  the  great  struggles  of 
Europe,  the  influence  of  diplomacy  has  always  strengthened  the 
dispositions  and  habits  of  peace  by  insisting  upon  a  mutual 
respect  for  the  actual  situation,  whatever  it  was.  With  a  sound 
instinct,  it  refers  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  as  the  decisive  era 
from  which  dates  the  salutary  power  which  is  vested  in  it,  till 
such  time  as  the  spiritual  power  of  Positivism  shall  have  defini- 
tively reorganised  the  West.  It  was  in  truth  a  noble  triumph, 
the  division  then  effected  of  the  West  between  Catholicism  and 
Protestantism,  by  the  prevention  or  repression  of  all  attempts 
to  secure  by  arms  the  supremacy  of  any  one  of  the  beliefs  which 
arose  out  of  the  spontaneous  decomposition  of  the  mediaeval 
defensive  Monotheism. 

These  various  faiths  have  been  a  constant  source  of  division 
not  only  for  nations,  but  for  towns  and  even  families,  yet  the 
diplomatists  have  everywhere  attained  this  result:  that  the 
powers  have  renounced,  as  a  point  of  their  external  policy,  all 
attempts  to  restore  unity,  its  re-establishment  being  left  solely 
to  religious  efi'orts.     A  line  of  action  such  as  this,  grounded  on 


XXIV  PEEFACE  TO 

the  natural  growth  of  scepticism,  has  induced  a  general  sense 
of  the  necessity  of  looking  for  spiritual  agreement  to  a  doctrine 
which  should  rise  above  all  the  discordant  creeds.  No  govern- 
ment, Catholic  or  Protestant,  has  since  that  epoch  tried  to 
conquer,  in  a  spirit  of  proselytism,  without  being  at  once 
driven  by  a  league  of  all  the  states  to  abandon  so  unwise 
an  attempt. 

Two  centuries  before  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  a  still  more 
capital  division  had  in  the  natural  course  of  events  received  a 
tacit  sanction  on  analogous  grounds.  The  philosophy  of 
history,  throwing  light  on  the  period  anterior  to  the  action  of 
diplomacy,  parallels  the  division  of  the  Roman  world  between 
Catholicism  and  Islam,  with  that  of  the  West  between  Popery 
and  Protestantism.  Once  the  Crusaders  had  definitively  se- 
cured the  Western  nations  from  a  Mussulman  invasion,  their 
natural  dispositions  towards  the  Turks  and  Greeks  had  free 
play ;  they  could  allow  the  social  antecedents  of  the  two,  as 
a  whole,  greater  weight  than  the  influences  of  theological 
belief.  The  Crusades  had  completely  satisfied  the  Latins  that 
the  Byzantines  were  incompetent  to  the  task  of  self-guidance ; 
through  them  it  became  clear  that  the  Mussulmans  were 
qualified  to  be  the  successors  of  the  Eomans  in  governing  a 
population  which  could  never  accept  discipline.  Vain  were 
the  entreaties  of  the  Greeks  for  half  a  century,  the  West 
respected  the  mission  of  Islam  ;  the  declamations  of  the  poets, 
constant  as  they  were,  never  prevented  the  formation  of 
alliances  between  two  regimes,  each  equally  suited  to  its 
peculiar  circumstances,  and  the  inference  from  such  alliances 
was  unmistakable. 

The  indication  is  sufficient.  It  shows  to  what  an  extent 
the  Eussian  action  disturbs  the  existing  order,  when,  in  the 
name  of  a  faith  which  is  everywhere  extinct,  it  would  set  aside 
the  compromise  on  which  rests  the  whole  of  Western  policy 
since  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Supposing  Austria  or 
Prussia  to  wish  to  force  on  one  another  Catholicism  or  Protest- 
antism, on  the   ground  of    German  unity,  the    Czar,  if  need 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  XXV 

/I 

were,  would  assist  France  and  England  in  enforcing  respect  for 
the  existing  religious  status  quo.  Can  he  hope  to  be  allowed  to 
perpetrate  a  more  serious  infraction  of  that  status,  disputing  the 
definitive  settlement  of  four  centuries  ?  It  was  from  classical 
sentiment  rather  than  theological  affinity  that  the  Western 
powers  decided  to  destroy  the  Turkish  navy  in  order  to  aid  the 
Greek  insurrection.  The  error  they  then  committed  they  are 
now  repairing,  by  respecting  the  general  current  of  modern 
traditions,  with  no  prejudice  to  their  appealing  earnestly  to  the 
sense  of  justice  inherent  in  the  Monotheism  of  the  dominant 
race. 

I  miay  hope  then  that  an  attempt,  in  which  no  success  is 
possible,  will  shortly  be  abandoned  with  dignity,  avoiding 
further  waste  of  valuable  resources — resources  which  Humanity 
enjoins  on  all  to  employ  in  bettering  our  condition  and  raising 
our  nature.  If  this  is  the  event,  the  Russian  incident  will  have 
brought  out,  undesignedly,  the  definitive  predominance  of  the 
habits  of  peace,  and  the  imanimity  of  the  Western  world  in  its 
wish  to  preserve  undisturbed  th©.unparalleled  harmony  of  forty 
years  (dating  from  1815).  Ill-considered  aims  apart,  the 
priesthood  of  Humanity  relies  on  the  wisdom  of  the  diplomatists 
to  take  measures,  that  a  war,  undertaken  in  a  holy  spirit  against 
war,  do  not  degenerate  and  violently  disturb  in  some  quarter  or 
other  the  political  or  religious  status  quo.  It  hopes  that  the 
Western  governments  will  feel  how  important  it  is  not  to 
interfere  with  the  natural  break-up  of  a  factitious  aggregation. 
No  one  of  those  governments  has  its  hands  sufficiently  clean  in 
relation  to  other  nations  to  be  justified  in  taking  the  initiative 
in  rectifications,  such  as  will  come  at  no  distant  period,  in 
obedience  to  the  sociological  law  of  the  gradual  disintegration 
of  the  great  states.  If  their  action  be  so  limited,  the  episode 
will  have  illustrated  the  fraternity  which  underlies  all  Western 
differences,  for  it  displays  the  heir  of  the  man  who  wished  at 
any  cost  to  destroy  the  English  constituent  of  the  West  nobly 
presiding  over  the  alliance  between  France  and  England  to 
secure  the  peace  of  the  world.     In  this  way  we  gain  a  sense  of 


sxvi  PREFACE  TO 

the  soundness  of  the  Positivist  anticipation  that  the  army  will 
be  transformed  into  a  constabulary,  for  the  military  power  in 
this  case  accepts  as  au  honour  a  task  which  has  exclusive  refer- 
ence to  the  police  of  Europe. 

On  the  other  supposition,  that  from  a  foolish  obstinacy  the 
struggle   is    embittered   and   prolonged,   it   would  throughout 
Europe    lead   to    consequences    ultimately   favourable    to    the 
intellectual  and  social' regeneration  of  the  race.     If,  the  regular 
armies  proving  inadequate,  the  nations  of  the  West  had  actively 
to  interfere,  no  power  but  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity  could  unite 
them  against  barbarians  invoking   Grod.     Already,  as  it  is,  the 
coalition  of  Protestants  and  Catholics,  to  preserve  the  Mussul- 
man from  the  Byzantine  invasion,  clearly  proves  that,  in  spite 
of   some   ignoble  mummeries,  the  West   is   acting  on  purely 
human  motives,  leaving  the  theological  to  the  more  belated 
nations.     Scepticism  and  hypocrisy  are  powerless  for  any  great 
or  durable  inspiration  ;  therefore  if  the  struggle  were  to  assume 
its  largest  dimensions,  its  direct  tendency  would  be  to  divide 
the  world  between  the  theological  belief  with  its  sanction  of 
war   and   the    Positivist  with   its    systematic   organisation    of 
peace.     The    constructive   would    soon   show   the   destructive 
element  what  a  power  there  lies  in  industrial  existence  to  secure 
superiority  in  war,  supposing  an  exceptional  case  in  which  it 
were  necessary  thus  to  divert  industry  from  its  true  purpose. 
But  I  need  not  discuss  further  a  possibility  which  has  no  pro- 
bability  in   its   favoiur,  since  the  official  beliefs  are  as  really 
worked  out  with  the  invader  as  they  are  with  the  protector ; 
enthusiasm  at  the  present  time  being  only  possible  in  defence 
of  our  native  land.     The  affair  must  remain  one  of  everyday 
character,  nor  will  it  leave  any  other  trace  than  the  final  ex- 
tinction of  the  Eussian  prestige,  the  only  plausible  motive  for 
maintaining  armies  in  the  West. 

It  is  in  connection  with  my  last  preface  that  I  here  intro- 
duce these  summary  remarks  on  an  episodic  event,  availing 
myself  of  it  to  show  the  competence  of  a  systematic  policy  to 
form  a  sound  judgment   on  the  most  unforeseen  cases.     The 


THE  FOUETH  VOLUME.  xxvii 

only  other  correction  needed  in  my  manifesto  is  to  place  in  a 
better  light  the  contrast  between  the  attitude  assumed  by  the 
rulers  of  the  East  and  the  governments  of  the  West  respectively. 
The  Eastern  rulers  may  be  progressive  in  their  internal  policy, 
but  their  tendency  to  be  retrograde  in  their  external,  shows 
that  such  merit  as  they  have  is  solely  due  to  the  fact  that  they 
preside  over  nations  as  yet  preserved  from  the  revolutionary 
spirit.  Once  let  the  remarkable  sect,  which  for  the  last  half 
century  has  been  decomposing  Byzantinism,  make  a  decided 
progress,  and  the  internal  policy  of  the  Ozars  will  be  more 
oppressive  than  their  external,  unless  they  have  been  ade- 
quately regenerated  by  Positivism.  I  must  express  my  regret, 
then,  that  in  my  manifesto  I  spoke  of  the  Western  statesmen 
as  inferior  to  the  Eastern,  not  taking  sufficiently  into  account 
the  anarchical  tendencies  which  compel  them  in  internal 
matters  to  give  a  retrograde  character  to  their  scepticism,  whilst 
it  is  free  from  it  in  external.  There  is  little  ground  either  for 
anticipating,  that-  any  Czar  will  duly  understand  the  vantage 
ground  his  position  gives  him  to  illustrate  and  to  perfect 
himself  by  offering  Positivism  a  protection  such  as  that  which 
the  great  Frederic  was  wise  enough  to  grant  to  Encyclopeedism. 
The  partial  sympathies  which  for  thirty  years  I  have  not  unfre- 
quently  awakened  in  Western  statesmen  leave  me  the  ulterior 
hope  of  shortly  meeting  with  an  adequate  appreciation  on  their 
part ;  an  appreciation  rendered  possible  only  by  the  treatise 
lately  finished. 

AUGUSTE    COMTE. 
(10  Eue  Monsieur-lo-Prince.) 

Paris,  15  Dante,  66  (Sunday,  July  30,  1851). 


PEEFACE 

TO 

THE     SECOND     VOLUME. 


The  general  preface  -whicli  stands  at  the  beginning  of  the  preceding 
(first)  volume  required  several  explanations  to  complete  it.  In 
placing  those  explanations  in  the  preface  to  the  second  volume,  I  add 
no  remarks  peculiar  to  it,  only  making  a  special  claim  for  a  deep  and 
sustained  attention  commensurate  with  the  importance  and  the  difficulty 
of  the  subject.  If  the  transitional  character  of  the  time  in  which  we 
live  makes  it  impossible  for  most  of  my  readers  to  bring  to  the  study 
of  sociology  a  sufficient  encyclopasdic  preparation,  nothing  can  absolve 
them  from  the  duty  of  approaching  it  with  those  dispositions  and  habits 
which  are  recognised  as  necessary  for  the  study  of  the  less  complex 
sciences.  Such  as  do  not  offer  these  conditions,  would  do  well  to 
abstain  from  speculations  which,  as  a  consequence  of  their  eminence, 
must  gradually  be  confined  to  some  few  intellects  who  will  afterwards 
make  known  their  principal  results.  This  recommendation  applies 
particularly  to  the  present  volume,  entirely  devoted  to  the  most  abstract 
theories  of  the  most  difficult  science. 

Notwithstanding  that,  in  order  to  diminish  the  material  difficulties 
that  beset  me,  I  both  publish  and  sell  the  four  volumes  of  this  treatise 
separately,  they  are  so  closely  connected  that  they  can  never  be  rightly 
studied  or  appreciated  apart.  It  is  literally  impossible  that  anyone 
should  master  the  present  volume  who  had  not  first  familiarised  himself 
with  the  essential  notions  of  the  preceding  one.  Nor  can  the  concep- 
tions I  here  state  be  fully  understood  until  their  historical  develope- 
ment  and  their  practical  destination  have  been  successively  explained 
by  the  two  later  volumes. 

All  the  explanations  of  this  supplementary  preface  concern  two 
subjects,  henceforth  inseparable,  my  personal  position  and  my  social 
mission.     Both  are  made  clear  by  the  three  '  special  communications 

'  The  circular  is  suppressed,  which  is  a  fourth  in  the  original. 


XXX  PEEFACE  TO 

which  I  shall  add  by  way  of  appendix  to  this  preface,  but  which  will 
require  some  previous  remarks  bearing  on  this  twofold  subject. 

Since  the  publication  of  my  first  volume,  the  spoliation  begun, 
when,  two  years  ago,  my  principal  office  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique 
was  taken  from  me,  has  been  finally  accomplished  by  my  exclusion 
from  the  subordinate  post  1  had  continued  to  hold.  This  consumma- 
tion of  my  ruin  officially,  foreseen  and  foretold  by  me  irom  the  begin- 
ning of  my  persecution,  is,  as  was  its  first  step,  the  work  of  the  implacable 
hatred  which  my  philosophic  works  excite  in  the  so-called  scientific 
mind,  allowing  for  changes  of  persons  and  coteries.  Government  has 
never  taken  any  active  part  in  it,  save  when  an  energetic  minister, 
(M.  le  Mar^chal  Soult),  exerted  himself  nobly  though  unsuccessfully 
to  protect  me  against  a  misinterpreted  legal  form.  But  the  cowardice 
of  my  academic  persecutors  has  ever  led  them  to  shelter  themselves 
from  public  blame  under  the  official  responsibility  of  a  power  which,  by 
our  pedantocratic  prejudices,  is  obliged,  however  unwillingly,  to  act  as 
a  passive  instrument  in  their  hands.  In  order  the  better  to  prevent  or 
to  remove  any  unjust  judgment,  it  is  my  duty  to  state  here,  that  this  last 
iniquity  was  specially  due  to  the  persistent  manoeuvres  of  the  worthy 
couple  of  Algebraists  with  respect  to  whom  my  previous  preface  guards 
against  any  involuntary  misapprehension.  Nevertheless,  their  vile 
intrigues  would  not  have  succeeded,  without  the  decisive  aid  which  they 
found  ready  to  their  hand  in  the  ignoble  spite  of  a  famous  dealer  in 
subjective  planets,  who  is  invested,  in  our  anarchical  situation,  with  a 
fatal  influence  in  the  ficole  Polytechnique.  In  this  utterly  degenerate 
school,  where  the  pupils  themselves  have  fallen,  morally  as  well  as  in- 
tellectually, to  the  level  of  their  teachers,  the  practical  functionaries 
alone,  military  or  administrative,  are  now  worthy  of  esteem.  From 
them,  notwithstanding  frequent  individual  changes,  I  have  always  met 
with  honourable  though  unavailing  courtesy,  a  fair  sample  of  the  con- 
stant disposition  of  the  power  they  represent.  Immediately  after  this 
last  blow,  the  present  noble  head  of  the  administration  expressly  sig- 
nified to  me  this  precious  sympathy  in  a  letter  which  I  shall  always 
preserve  as  an  invaluable  piece  of  evidence.  But  in  this  miserable  in- 
stitution, all  the  practical  authorities  are  more  than  ever  oppressed  bv 
the  pedants  who  govern  them,  the  only  change  in  their  tyrants  being 
the  substitution  for  the  rude  empiricism  of  so-called  engineers  the 
narrow  mysticism  of  algebraists. 

This  complete  ruin,  after  nineteen  years  of  irreproachable  service, 
atones  at  last  for  the  grave  imprudence  which  I  committed  when  I  placed 
my  material  existence  at  the  mercy  of  my  natural  enemies.  Until  that 
period,  my  independent  private  teaching  of  the  mathematical  sciences, 
had  procured  me  a  sufficient  though  precarious  livelihood,  practically 
out  of  the  reach  of  academic  influences.  Following  a  too  worldly  advice, 
I  abandoned,  in   1832,  this  independent  profession  for  a  public  office. 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xxxi 

though  I  had  already  foreseen  the  internal  struggles  to  which  it  would 
expose  me.  Those  whose  blind  affection  induced  me  thus  fatally  to 
yield,  must  have  regretted  since  that  the  inflexibility  with  which  I 
am  reproached  did  not  then  assert  itself.  However,  this  early  fault 
being  now  involuntarily  repaired,  it  should  prevent  me  from  seeking 
and  even  from  accepting  any  other  official  situation,  in  which  I  must 
always  be  exposed  to  the  similar  animosities  which  must  be  aroused  by 
the  spiritual  discipline  which  my  doctrines  tend  to  establish. 

But  the  works  I  have  accomplished  during  this  long  period  give 
me  now  a  right  to  demand  openly  of  the  public  of  the  West  some 
material  protection,  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  complete  the  great 
construction,  in  the  first  place  philosophical,  afterwards  religious,  to 
which  my  life  has  been  constantly  devoted.  Since  this  last  spoliation, 
I  rejoice  in  having  no  other  shelter  against  poverty  than  the  noble 
annual  subscription  originally  set  on  foot  as  a  temporary  aid.  Although 
hitherto  inadequate,  I  doubt  not  that,  in  becoming  henceforward  per- 
petual, it  will  reach  the  requisite  sum.  In  this  conviction,  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  stamp  with,  the  gratuitous  character,  normally  belonging  to 
them,  all  my  services.  At  first  confined  to  my  popular  teaching,  I  next 
extended  it  to  my  philosophical  compositions,  and  I  shall  now  make  it 
embrace  the  quarterly  contributions  to  be  announced  in  this  preface. 
The  founder  of  a  new  spiritual  power  should  offer,  at  the  risk  of  some 
temporary  embarrassments,  a  decisive  example  of  the  only  mode  of 
material  existence  consistent  with  the  true  dignity  of  the  priestly  office. 
Until  the  progress  of  the  positive  religion  has  led  the  munificence  of  the 
public  to  guarantee  the  existence  of  the  priests  of  Humanity,  without 
prejudice  to  their  social  independence,  they  ought  always  to  live  by 
the  free  contributions  of  their  adherents,  as  was  long  the  case  with  the 
priests  of  God.  The  blind  hatred  of  my  wretched  enemies  has  gra- 
dually driven  me  to  this  completely  normal  position,  which,  without 
some  such  action,  had  never  perhaps  become  sufficiently  decisive  to 
enable  me  to  make  the  most  perfect  use  of  the  ten  years  of  full  cerebral 
vigour  which  I  may  yet  consecrate  to  the  real  Great  Being. 

This  final  situation  is  so  consonant  to  my  nature  and  my  office 
that,  of  short  date  though  it  is,  it  has  already  become  profoundly 
familiar  to  me,  owing  to  its  favourable  daily  influence.  The  present 
volume,  notwithstanding  the  great  difficulties  peculiar  to  it,  has  just 
been  written,  without  hurry  or  fatigue,  in  the  first  third  of  the  present 
year,  excepting  only  the  opening  chapter,  composed  in  January  1851, 
and  read,  in  February,  to  the  Positivist  Society.  I  feel  myself  thus 
able  to  write  a  volume  each  year,  in  the  interval  between  two  of  my 
weekly  courses  of  lectures,  since  my  position  secures  me  at  last,  at  the 
age  of  fifty,  such  a  complete  freedom  of  time  and  strength,  as  till  now, 
I  have  never  enjoyed.  If  then,  as  I  am  inwardly  persuaded,  the 
Western  public  does  not  forsake  me,  I  may  venture  to  guarantee  the 


XXXll  PREFACE  TO 

worthy  execution  of  the  four  great  works  which  I  promised  when  ter- 
minating, ten  years  ago,  my  fundamental  work,  and  this  without 
trenching  on  the  period  of  rest  which  ought  to  separate  each  of  them. 
Even  before  proceeding  to  the  third  volume  of  the  present  treatise,  I 
count  on  publishing  at  the  close  of  the  year,  an  exceptional  com- 
position, calculated  to  facilitate  the  systematic  jiropaganda  of 
the  Eeligion  of  Humanity, — the  Positivist  Catechism.  This  secondary 
work  I  bad  not  thought  to  accomplish  till  after  the  termination  of  the 
last  volume.  But  whilst  writing  the  present  one,  I  felt  that,  when  it 
should  be  finished,  I  should  be  able  to  realise  this  episode,  urgently 
called  for  by  the  gravity  of  the  "Western  situation.  This  earlier  execu- 
tion of  so  necessary  a  work  is  specially  due  to  the  decisive  maturity 
which  the  final  religion  attains  in  this  volume,  a  maturity  surpassing 
the  hopes  I  formed  during  my  oral  elaboration. 

To  attain  the  full  security  which  is  my  just  due,  it  was  necessary 
to  ensure  the  immediate  publication  of  all  my  writings.  Now  since, 
in  accordance  with  my  principles,  I  have  renounced  all  so-called 
literary  property,  this  last  guarantee  has  followed  as  a  natural  fruit  of 
the  emotions  excited  in  those  around  me  by  my  exclusive  devotion  of 
myself,  without  any  reward,  to  my  fundamental  office.  The  preface  to 
the  preceding  volume  announced  the  generous  resolution  with  which  a 
noble  disciple  (M.  Lonchampt)  had  come  forward  to  remove  the 
material  obstacles  which,  for  a  whole  year,  retarded  the  publication  of 
that  volume,  I  must  here  complete  my  announcement  by  chronicling 
the  scrupulous  fulfilment  of  that  loj'al  engagement,  even  beyond  any 
ordinary  expectation,  so  that  the  printing  expenses  of  the  first  volume 
are  all  paid,  though  its  sale  has  up  to  this  time  produced  scarcely  one 
third  of  the  amount.  At  a  time  when  right>-minded  practical  men  are 
at  once  so  precious  and  so  rare,  the  Western  public  will  rejoice  that  this 
noble  young  man,  whose  exceptional  modesty  has  enabled  him  to  over- 
come the  theoretic  temptations  incident  to  a  brilliant  youth,  wisely 
chooses  an  industrial  career  whence  may  arise  a  distinguished  Positivist 
patronage. 

Although  his  decisive  intervention  seemed  limited  to  the  preceding 
volume,  it  has  led  to  an  equivalent  security  for  the  three  others,  un- 
hoped for  by  me,  and,  as  a  consequence,  doubtless,  for  all  my  future 
works.  Scarcely  was  this  example  known,  when  the  second  volume 
became  the  object  of  a  similar  offer  from  the  noble  adherents  to  whom 
I  was  indebted,  in  1848,  for  the  printing  of  the  first  edition  of  the 
'  General  View.'  Another  generous  proposition  was  recently  made  to 
me  in  regard  to  the  same  volume.  But  I  publish  it  now  without  aid 
from  either  of  these  sources,  which  may  thus  be  reserved  for  ulterior 
difficulties.  For  my  honourable  publisher  (M.  Thunot),  though  well 
aware  of  my  personal  poverty,  has,  unsought,  offered  me  his  valuable 
co-operation,  without  requiring  any  other  guarantee  than  my  scrupu- 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xxxiii 

lous  resolution  to  apply  all  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  my  books  to  the 
simple  payment  of  their  expenses.  His  printing  office,  admirably 
directed  by  a  soldier  returning  to  the  peaceful  citizen  life,  has  just 
accomplished  this  work  with  an  unexampled  promptitude  and  correct- 
ness, which  deserve  my  special  acknowledgments  here. 

As  will  be  seen  from  this  twofold  explanation  of  my  personal  posi- 
tion, to  which  correspond  the '  two  first  parts  of  the  following  appen- 
dix, I  may  hope  that  the  trials  which  await  ray  future  life  will  never 
affect  my  fundamental  office.  At  the  same  time,  the  progress  of 
Positivism  of  late  increases  my  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  all  my 
eflforts. 

Among  the  signs  of  this  progress  subsequent  to  the  preceding 
volume,  I  must  first  note  with  gratitude  a  valuable  result,  arrived  at  by 
comparing  its  actual  total  with  the  decisive  dedication,  which  five 
years  before,  was  the  secret  germ  of  it.  All  synthetic  minds  now  feel, 
as  do  all  sympathetic  hearts,  that  in  this  exceptional  outpouring  of 
emotion  were  contained  all  the  essential  elements  of  that  vast  moral  and 
religious  developement  which  Positivism  has  subsequently  acquired  and 
which  is  its  most  marked  feature.  This  characteristic  manifestation 
has  already  given  me  a  foretaste  of  incomparable  satisiaction,  by  elicit- 
ing from  both  sexes  sympathies  of  the  highest  order  for  my  sainted 
patroness,  whose  individual  claims  to  public  veneration  will  soon  be 
^pronounced  superior  to  those  of  the  gentle  Beatrice. 

The  first  volume,  whilst  establishing  the  previously  contested  fit- 
ness of  Positivism  for  its  most  decisive  destination,  has  equally  refuted 
the  superficial  charge  to  which  the  publication  of  the  '  General  View  ' 
separately  gave  colour,  that  I  had  given  up  intellectual  progress. 
Brilliant  additions  to  theory,  especially  in  Biology,  have  proved  that  the 
increasingly  sympathetic  spirit  of  Positivism  reacts  favourably  upon  its 
synthetic  developement,  conformably  to  the  sound  theory  of  the  brain. 
The  fresh  steps  in  all  the  .sciences  accomplished  in  the  present  volume 
will  henceforth  silence  this  frivolous  objection,  except  in  critics,  who, 
as  being  incompetent  or  hostile,  shall  never  engage  my  attention. 

At  the  same  time,  the  natural  developement  of  the  Western  situation 
has  led  to  fuller  manifestations  of  the  characteristic  aptitude  of  the 
Positive  religion  to  meet  the  requirements,  hitherto  irreconcilable,  of 
order  and  progress.  Last  summer  I  knew  of  the  existence,  and  since 
then  I  have  had  full  information,  of  the  valuable  Positivist  centres  which 
have  arisen  amongst  eminent  American  conservatives,  especially  at 
Philadelphia  and  New  York.  A  situation  unlike  any  other  forbids  in 
America  all  political  recourse  to  the  various  forms  of  material  repres- 
sion, and  even  to  theological  influences,  the  principal  organs  of  which 
are  necessarily  the  directors  of  the  metaphysical  agitation.     Thus  pre- 

'  See  note  at  p.  xxix. 
VOJL.  IV.  b 


xxxiv  PREFACE  TO 

served  from  the  double  illusion  which  vitiates  our  official  routine,  our 
American  brethren  have  appreciated  more  justly  the  real  character  of 
the  Western  anarchy,  more  dangerous  with  them  than  in  Europe, 
despite  appearances  to  the  contrary.  Consequently  they  have  earlier 
felt  how  impossible  it  is  to  overcome  the  communistic  tendencies  which 
are  the  natural  outcome  of  all  our  social  impulses  except  by  the  free 
rise  of  Positivism,  the  only  doctrine  universally  capable  of  procuring  a 
reasonable  satisfaction  for  the  various  instincts  of  regeneration.  This 
sole  issue  of  our  perilous  transition  is  already  rightly  conceived  by 
the  noble  American  citizens,  who  more  and  more  earnestly  invoke  the 
Positive  religion  in  the  name  of  an  order  profoundly  undermined, 
whilst  they  accept  beforehand  the  proper  moral  discipline  which  it 
imposes  on  the  rich. 

The  tendency  of  this  vast  appendage  of  the  West  towards 
Positivism  may  be  specially  verified  in  the  loyal  reception  the  new 
religion  has  there  met  with  even  from  its  declared  adversaries.  One  of 
the  principal  quarterly  reviews  has  published,  in  the  January  and 
April  numbers  of  the  present  year,  a  valuable  appreciation  of  my 
fundamental  work  by  a  worthy  antagonist.  The  generous  tone  of  his 
articles,  whilst  he  freely  expresses  his  dissent,  contrasts  favourably  with 
that  of  our  psychologists,  or  ideologists,  and  even  with  the  coldness  to- 
wards myself  of  my  too  purely  theoretic  adherents.  Such  treatment 
led  me  shortly  to  take  a  step  foreign  to  my  habits,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  avowed  contributions  of  such  opponents  to  the  voluntary  subscrip- 
tion which  is  as  yet  insufficient  for  my  material  support.  J  am  the 
more  glad  that  I  wrote  the  letter  which  I  subjoin,  that  it  has  recently 
brought  me  an  admirable  reply,  in  the  handwriting  of  my  noble  critic, 
who,  though  himself  straitened  in  means,  generously  takes  part  in  this 
voluntary  patronage,  which  he  qualifies  as  a  social  duty. 

But  the  progress  of  Positivism  simultaneously  in  the  other  camp  of 
the  West  is  no  less  decisive.  Of  this  our  recent  success  amono-st  the 
proletaries  of  Lyons  may  give  the  measure.  Specially  guarded  from 
all  anti-domestic  theories  by  the  peculiar  imperfections  of  its  industrial 
constitution,  this  noble  and  unhappy  population  had  spontaneously  im- 
bibed from  its  family-life  a  strong  predisposition  to  Positivism.  The  com- 
munistic agitation  has  only  prepared  it  more  thoroughly  for  those  social 
questions  which  the  universal  religion  alone  can  solve.  Hence  a  few 
eminent  apostles  have  been  enough  to  develope  in  that  city,  in  less 
than  a  year,  under  the  fair  protection  of  the  temporal  authorities  a 
Positivist  nucleus  of  the  greater  value  that  it  will  soon  become  the 
centre  of  a  vast  propaganda  in  the  South  of  Europe. 

This  recent  quickening  into  life  in  two  quarters  of  the  religion 
destined  finally  to  reconcile  order  and  progress,  is  powerfully  aided  by 
the  irrevocable  step  just  made  in  our  republican  situation.  From  its 
futile  parliamentary  commencement,  fit  only  for  the  English  transition 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xxxv 

our  republic  passes  by  its  own  impetus  to  the  dictatorial  phase,  the  only 
one  really  suited  to  France,  though  equally  suitable  to  the  other  Catholic 
populations,  as  may  be  seen  in  Spanish  America.  The  approaching 
resumption  of  my  annual  lectures  has  given  me  an  opportunity  of 
specially  appreciating  this  promising  modification,  and  the  new  strength 
it  gives  to  Positivism.  I  have  already  treated  of  this  twofold  subject 
in  a  decisive  letter,  fully  sanctioned  by  my  civic  patron,  a  letter  which 
forms  the  second  part  of  the  appendix  to  this  preface.  It  might  have 
saved  me  all  further  explanations  on  this  subject,  but  for  the  serious 
anxiety  since  occasioned  by  the  deplorable  fatuity  of  an  individual. 

Our  profoundly  negative  state  leaves  a  certain  scope  to  any  bold 
initiative,  whether  in  the  direction  of  anarchy  or  retrogression,  on  the 
part  of  a  man  rightly  placed  for  it.     But  the  various  perturbations 
which  seem  possible  and    even  imminent,  never  occur  to  their  full 
extent,  at  least  not  in  the  most  important  cases.     Although  the  living 
no  longer  acknowledge  the  yoke   of  the  dead,  they  are  none  the  less 
bound  by  it,  and  it  is  our  preservative  against  the  greatest  dangers, 
though  it  fails  to  preserve  us  as  completely  from  the  fears  which  they 
arouse.     A  future  conceived  so  vaguely  can  only  inspire  with  sufficient 
confidence   those    intellects    whose     genius    for   systematization     has 
enabled  them  to  invest  it  for  themselves  with  a  more  definite  character 
by  the  help  of  a  sound  appreciation  of  the  past,  the  modern  past  above 
all.     From  the  very  birth  of  the  republic,  I  proclaimed  it  to  be  irrevo- 
cable, though  subject  to  frequent  modifications  politically,  and  yet  that 
it  would  long  appear  precarious,  until  a  common  doctrine  should  give 
unity  to  our  action.     This  security  may  be   compared  to  that  which 
relates  to  the  peace  of  the  West,  which,  notwithstanding  its  unexampled 
duration,  never  preserves  our  empirical  confidence  from  the  disquiet 
arising  from  the  least  shock,  though  the  event  always  proves  the  alarm 
groundless.     So  also  we  shall  see  the  waves  break  and  disperse  which 
threaten  our  republican  situation.     For  the  whole  of  the  French  past 
rejects  royalty  as  much  as  war.     Henceforward,  true  citizens  have  no 
more  cause  to  fear  a  monarchical  retrogression  than  a  parliamentary 
anarchy.     These  two  opposite  forms   of  constitutional  government  are 
equally   effete  in  the  present  day.        The  republican   situation    has 
become  the  primary  condition  of  material  order,  by  the  fact  of  its  being 
the  only  form  of  government  which  admits  of  an  energetic  dictatorship. 
However    I    deplore   the    temporary    checks   upon    discussion   in 
France,  our  deliverance  from  the  anarchical  bondage  of  the  arrogant 
and  intriguing   talkers  who   disturbed  our  meditations  is  a  profound 
relief  to  me,  as  great  as,  though  more  unhoped  for  than,  that  when  the 
incubus  of  monarchy  was  shaken  off  in  1848.     The  two  burdens  are 
in  my  opinion  equally  things  of  the  past.     A  strong  personal  aberra- 
tion, to  which  our  lack  of  social  faith  seems  to  leave  free  play,  could 
only  bring  about  the  realisation,  more  or  less  speedy,  of  the  eventuality 

b2 


XXXYl  PREFACE  TO 

I  allude  to  in  the  beginning  of.  my  manifesto.     Still,  though  a  civic 
foresight  must  not  overlook  this  possibility,  we  must  avoid  such  pre- 
occupation   with   it,  as  would  destroy  the   vigour    of  those   decisive 
meditations  on  the  true  order  of  the  West  which  the  republic  under  a 
dictator  everywhere  inspires.     The  natural  play  of  ofSoial  checks,  at 
home  or  abroad,  will  perhaps  stifle  these  mad  tendencies  before  they 
give  rise  to  any  serious  disturbance.     True  it  is  that  a  state  of  chronic 
insurrection  of  country  against  town,  which  is  already  beginning,  will 
characterise  in  most  countries  the  last  phase  of  the  Western  anarchy,  as 
I  predicted  at  the  close  of  my  philosophical  treatise.     But  in  our  case 
we  may  avoid  this  special  developement  of  a  very  modifiable  destiny, 
if  the  Parisian  proletariate,  the  spontaneous  director  of  the  great  move- 
ment,  will  timely  act  upon  the   valuable  lesson  their   own    political 
anxieties  may  already  teach  them.     For  those  anxieties  make  evident 
the  profoundly  retrograde   character  of  the  negative  metaphysics  to 
which,  discredited  though  they  be,  they  are  still  in  bondage.    The  revolt 
of  the  living  against  the  dead  is  now  leading  the  West  to  throw  its 
weight  into  the  scale  of  the  most  coarse  and   eiFete  influences,  from 
which  we  can  only  escape  by  again,  and  voluntarily,  ranging  ourselves 
under  the  banner  of  the  past.     Thus  the  fundamental  condition  of  true 
social  progress  consists  at  this  time  in  the  complete  rejection  by  the 
central  population  of  all  the  outcome   of  revolutionary  ideas,  whether 
doctrines  or  men,   as  henceforth   equally  retrograde  and    anarchical. 
When  it  shall  have  made  order  certain  by  passing  from  negativism  to 
Positivism,  following  the  noble  example,  already  given  by  some  eminent 
workmen  of  Paris  and  Lyons,  it  will  have  earned  the  right  to  forbid  its 
■republic,  the  only  real  basis  in  the  West  for  the  necessary  armistice 
between  the  poor  and  the  rieh,  from  being  put  to  the  vote.     But  then, 
I  dare  assert,  in  the  name  of  the  past  and  the  future  of  which  I  am  as 
yet  sole  interpreter,  no  dictator  will  retain  a  trace  of  monarchical  ten- 
dency.    For  in  the  clear  light  of  a  most  synthetic  ofBce,  the  fear  of 
anarchy  alone  could  prevent  a  dictator  from  discerning  that  the  repub- 
lican situation  is  as  indispensable  to  real  power  as  to  true  glory.     In 
the  statesman  who  has  just  happily  delivered  us  from  the  parliamentary 
regime,  it  would  be  an  especially  glaring  and  dangerous  inconsistency, 
were  he,  to  gratify  a  childish  vanity,  to  endeavour   to   re-establish  a 
constitutional  monarchy. 

This  short  notice  naturally  leads  nie  to  the  final  announcement 
which  forms  the  special  object  of  the  last  part  of  the  subjoined  appen- 
dix. In  fact,  the  foundation  of  tire  Revue  Occidentale  will  dispense  me, 
I  hope,  from  the  necessity  of  using  the  opportunities  my  prefaces  or  my 
lectures  afford  me  to  give  the  public  various  incidental  explanations, 
which  would  be  better  placed  elsewhere. 

The  great  importance,  intellectual  and  social,  and  the  general 
accordance  with  my  principal  elaboration,  of  this  periodical  form  of 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xxxvii 

teaching,  made  me  desirous,  so  early  as  1845,  of  establishing  it.  But 
its  utility  was  not  felt  widely  enough  for  me  to  obtain  the  funds  re- 
quisite for  the  five  years'  unfettered  trial  I  then  judged  indispensable. 
The  republican  situation  permitting  me,  in  1848,  to  reduce  this  trial 
period  to  three  years,  the  same  difficulty  beset  me.  But  the  dictatorial 
phase  calling  up  more  serious  dispositions  and  making  the  urgent  need 
of  a  sound  direction  of  the  judgment  of  the  West  more  evident,  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  make  one  more  attempt,  limiting  myself  to  quarterly 
issues.  This  last  change,  with  my  own  renunciation  of  all  payment, 
reduces  as  much  as  possible  the  cost  of  guoh  an  undertaking.  If  then 
it  is  still  unseconded  I  shall  think  no  more  of  it,  though  I  shall  con- 
tinue to  hold  myself  ready  to  direct  it  when  its  conditions  shall  be 
fulfilled,  and  even  myself  to  furnish  a  fifth  or  a  fourth  of  each  number. 

Though  I  have  sufficiently  explained  the  distinction  and  character 
of  the  three  parts  of  my  appendix,  I  must  not  close  this  preface  with- 
out a  pleasing  personal  detail,  the  importance  of  which  will  soon  be 
felt  by  all  complete,  that  is  to  say,  religious  Positivists. 

The  '  General  View '  and  the  whole  of  the  present  treatise  manifest 
equally  the  profoundly  artistic  tendency  of  Positivism  and  the  great 
assistance  its  establishment  must  even  now  receive  from  those  brilliant 
I'unctions  which  best  represent  human  nature  in  its  unity.  Still  I  have 
never  concealed  the  fact  that  this  inevitable  sympathy  must  develope 
itself  later  than  the  valuable  aid  coming  first  from  the  instinct  of  the 
people  and  afterwards  from  the  feeling  of  women.  Nevertheless,  the 
systematic  reason  which  is  to  guide  the  West  has  obtained  earlier  than 
I  had  hoped  this  complementary  sanction,  by  the  decisive  adherence  of 
an  eminent  artist,  M.  A.  Etex,  predisposed  to  Positivism  by  a  nature  of 
remarkably  synthetic  power. 

AUGUSTE    COMTE. 
(10  Eue  Monsieur-le-Prince.) 
Paris,  11  Csesar,  64: 

(Sunday,  May  2,  1852.) 


TO 

Dr.     J.     M'CLINTOCK, 

EDIIOE   OP   '  THE   MBIHODISI  EETIEW,'  NEW   TOEK. 

Paris  :  7  Homer,  64. 
(Wednesday,  i  February,  1852.) 
SlE, 

I  have  just  read  in  the  number  of  your  '  Methodist  Review  ' 
for  January  1852,  received  last  Thursday,  an  appreciation  of  my  funda- 
mental work  by  an  eminent  adversary,  a  conscientious  appreciation,  not- 
withstanding some  involuntary  mistakes,  numerous  but  fortunately 
secondary  and  therefore  such  as  may  be  duly  corrected  later.  This 
noble  treatment,  to  which  the  French  press  has  but  too  little  accustomed 
me,  induces  me  now  to  extend  to  such  opponents  the  recent  personal 
appeal  to  the  public  of  the  West,  which,  I  may  mention,  is  the  com- 
plement of  that  of  1848,  honourably  mentioned  in  this  remarkable 
article.  Were  I  acquainted  with  the  anonymous  author,  I  should  be 
glad  to  send  it  direct  to  him,  with  the  expression  of  my  sincere  grati- 
tude. But  I  hope,  Sir,  that  you  will  be  sc  good  as  to  act  as  the  medium 
between  us,  and  to  accept  also  for  yourself  one  of  the  two  accompanying 
copies  of  my  circular.  I  congratulate  myself,  then,  on  this  rare  and 
passing  infringement  of  the  successful  cerebral  regime  which,  for  several 
years,  makes  me  systematically  abstain  from  all  papers  and  reviews 
whatever,  in  order  to  concentrate  my  habitual  reading  on  the  true  and 
always  fresh  masterpieces  of  Western  poetry,  ancient  and  modern. 

Public  morality  now  requires  that  this  despairing  cry  of  unmerited 
distress  should  clearly  resound  across  the  Atlantic,  the  better  to  cha- 
racterise both  the  persistent  lukewarmness  of  my  friends  or  partizans, 
and  the  ignoble  bitterness  of  my  persecutors  of  the  Academy.  And 
irrespective  of  our  common  Occidentality,  I  cannot  consider  myself 
personally  as  a  stranger  in  a  republic  to  which,  in  1816,  I  was  on  the 
point  of  emigrating  at  the  opening  of  my  philosophical  career,  under  the 
honourable  patronage  of  the  kind  General  Bernard,  and,  indirectly,  of 
the  noble  President  Monroe.  Putting  that  aside,  this  communication 
wiU  make  clearly  known  the  deplorable  extremity  to  which  he  who, 
after  founding  Positive  philosophy,  is  now  constructing  on  this  solid 
basis,  and  that  beyond  the  promises  quoted  by  my  loyal  adversary, 
the  Eeligion  of  Humanity,  is  reduced,  in  the  very  scene  of  his  long  life 
of  social  devotion. 


xl  PREFACE  TO 

Of  all  the  clergies  sprung  from  the  decomposition,  first  spontaneous 
and  then  systematic,  of  Western  Monotheism,  that  of  the  United  States 
appears  to  me,  upon  the  whole,  the  only  one  which  now  possesses  a  true 
spiritual  power,  that  is  to  say,  an  authority  at  once  intellectual  and 
moral,  always  resting  on  the  free  assent  of  a  public  emancipated  fi:om 
all  outward  constraint.  If  it  is  socially  not  more  efficacious  in  the 
work  of  modern  reonranisation,  I  impute  this  failure  neither  to  the 
ministers  themselves  nor  to  the  population,  but  chiefly  to  the  irrevoc- 
able weakness  of  a  religion  incapable  by  its  very  nature  of  really  em- 
bracing the  great  whole  of  the  existence  it  ought  to  systematize,  even 
though  limiting  its  sphere  to  the  individual  life,  essentially  inseparable 
from  collective  life.  Endowed  with  equal  advantages,  I  dare  affirm 
that  Positivism  would  ere  this  have  secured  the  whole  of  the  West 
against  anarchy  and  retrogression,  judging  from  the  results  which  I 
have  obtained,  in  the  centre  of  the  agitation,  by  means,  of  the  small - 
ness  of  which  the  present  communication  may  give  you  a  precise  idea. 

No  American  would  have  imagined  that,  at  the  present  period  of 
my  life,  it  would  be  impossible,  aiter  three  years'  efforts,  to  place  at  my 
disposal  the  moderate  sum  of  7,000  francs  a  year,  2,000  francs  of  which, 
as  every  one  here  knows,  I  scrupulously  set  apart  for  the  payment  of 
an  annuity  which  I  regard  as  incumbent  on  me.  I  do  not  then 
hesitate  loyally  to  invoke  the  aid  of  generous  adversaries,  who  will 
perhaps  make  up  for  the  culpable  torpor  into  which,  with  some  admir- 
able exceptions,  French,  Scotch  and  Dutch,  my  so-called  disciples, 
almost  throughout  the  European  West,  continue  sunk,  especially  those 
of  France  and  England.  If  the  members  of  the  American  West  should 
shame,  by  a  striking  contrast,  the  anarchical  conduct  of  those  of  Europe, 
I  should  doubly  rejoice,  first,  for  the  good  use  of  the  ten  years  of  full 
vigour  of  brain  I  can  still  devote  to  Humanity,  and  further  for  the 
practical  consecration  of  universal  Morals,  which  I  have  always  aspired 
to  place  on  a  solid  basis  by  the  foundation  of  a  new  spiritual  power, 
the  worthy  heir  of  the  admirable  Catholicity  peculiar  to  the  Middle 


In  order.  Sir,  to  reassure  you  as  to  the  unbroken  continuity  of 
peaceful  activity  which  such  a  situation  would  seem  to  threaten,  I 
should  be  glad  to  send  you,  as  well  as  my  noble  anonymous  adversary, 
the  first  volume,  published  in  July  1851,  of  my  second  great  work, 
specially  promised  when  I  concluded  the  first,  ten  years  ago.  This 
system  of  Positive  Politics  will  consist,  according  to  that  first  and 
accurate  announcement,  of  four  volumes.  Of  these  I  am  now  writing 
the  second,  which  will  probably  appear  next  July,  and  the  two  others 
at  the  same  season  of  the  next  two  years.  If  you  will  be  so  good  as  to 
enlighten  me  on  material  ai'rangements,  of  which  I  am  strangely 
ignorant,  by  informing  me  how  I  may  best  send  you  all  these  volumes, 
you  shall  shortly  receive  the  two  copies  above  mentioned,  of  the  first 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xli 

volume,  already  known  to  some  Americans.  And  you  may  accept  this 
little  philosophic  present,  as  a  small  mark  of  my  esteem,  without 
scruple,  for  I  am  myself  the  publisher  of  my  book,  and  may  therefore 
distribute  all  the  copies  of  it  at  my  pleasure.  Meanwhile,  1  add  to  my 
circular  the  Cerebral  Table,  which  sums  up  my  positive  theory  of  human 
nature,  the  most  available  result  of  this  new  volume.  I  send  also  the 
philosophical  programme  of  the  systematic  course  of  lectures  I  have 
been  delivering  ibr  three  years  past,  to  a  voluntary  audience  of  both 
sexes,  with  the  honourable  authorisation  of  the  only  government  which 
has  hitherto  fully  respected  my  just  spiritual  independence,  the  laborious 
and  tardy  conquest  of  my  indeiatigable  devotion.  You  may  thus,  as  a 
philosoplier,  obtain  a  consoling  verification  of  the  power  of  modern 
civilisation  entirely  to  transform  the  persecuting  instinct  itself:  hence- 
forth it  is  reduced  to  attacks  on  property,  life  and  even  liberty  having 
escaped  its  range. 

In  consequence  of  this  long  and  scrupulous  career,  more  homo- 
geneous perhaps  than  any  other  known  to  us,  I  have  acquired  a 
iixed  hatiit  of  living  entirely  as  in  the  eye  of  the  world,  according  to 
the  true  republican  principle.  Therefore,  Sir,  if  you  think  it  would 
be  of  use  to  make  this  circular  and  even  the  present  letter  known, 
I  leave  to  your  friendly  judgment  the  degree  of  publicity  to  be  given 
them,  provided  the  text  be  strictly  reproduced  without  curtailment. 
Nevertheless,  I  desire  that  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  consult  first,  on 
this  point,  the  eminent  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  who  has  now  become 
my  chief  temporal  patron,  without  ceasing  to  be  my  noble  spiritual 
client,  Mr.  Horace  Binney- Wallace,  too  well-known  to  need  any  further 
address. 

Health  and  fraternity. 

AUGUSTE    COMTE. 
(10  Eue  Monsieur-le-Prince.) 


xlii  PEEFS.UE  TO 


TO 

M.     VIEILLAED, 

SENATOK  OE   IHE   FBDNOH  EEPUBLIC. 

Paris :  3rd  Aristotle,  64. 
(Saturday,  28th  February,  1852.) 

Sir, 

When  in  the  month  of  October  last,  I  gave  the  last  lecture 
of  my  Philosophical  course  on  the  general  history  of  Humanity,  which 
I  have  been  delivering,  for  three  years  past,  under  your  civic  patronage, 
I  gave  notice  that  I  would  deliver  the  first  lecture  of  the  fourth  course 
on  the  same  subject,  on  the  first  Sunday  of  April  next,  according  to 
my  yearly  custom.  But  before  talking  with  you  on  this  subject,  I 
think  fit  to  send  you  some  written  explanations,  as  to  the  new  cliaracter 
it  is  my  wish  to  give  to  the  whole  of  this  fourth  course ;  one  better 
adapted  to  the  altered  situation  of  our  Eepublic.  You  may  regard 
this  letter  as  a  previous  summary  of  the  political  exposition  which  will 
form  the  first  part  of  my  opening  lecture  ;  in  the  portion  of  it  which 
relates  to  morals  I  shall  then  describe  the  final  regime  as  directed  by 
the  Eeligion  of  Humanity ;  whilst  in  its  philosophical  conclusion  I 
shall  indicate  the  spirit  and  the  plan  of  the  great  historical  construction 
upon  which  this  final  regime  is  based. 

Our  last  crisis  has,  it  seems  to  me,  carried  the  French  Eepublic  for 
ever  beyond  the  parliamentary  period,  suitable  only  to  a  negative 
revolution,  into  the  dictatorial  period,  the  only  one  in  harmony  with 
the  positive  revolution,  from  which,  as  a  consequence  of  tbe  decisive 
alliance  of  order  and  progress,  the  gradual  termination  of  the  disorder 
of  the  West  will  issue.  Even  should  the  abuse  of  the  dictatorial  power 
be  such  as  to  compel,  before  the  time  fixed,  a  change  of  its  principal 
organ,  this  sad  necessity  would  not  really  reestablish  the  power  of  any 
assembly,  except  perhaps  for  the  short  period  required  for  the  excep- 
tional advent  of  a  fresh  dictator. 

The  theory  of  history  of  which  I  am  the  originator,  makes  it  evi- 
dent that  through  the  whole  of  the  French  past  the  tendency  has  ever 
been  to  the  predominance  of  the  central  power.  This  normal  disposi- 
tion would  never  have  been  interrupted,  had  that  power  not  at  length 
assumed  a  retrograde  character,  in  the  second  half  of  tlie  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  Hence  ensued,  a  century  later,  the  complete  abolition  of 
French  royalty  ;  and  irom  that,  in  turn,  the  temporary  ascendancy  of 
the  only  assembly  which  was  destined  to  be  ever  really  popular  amongst 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xlii'l 

us.  Even  its  sway  was  owing  to  its  wise  subordination  to  the  energetic 
committee  which  formed  itself  within  its  bosom  to  direct  the  heroic 
defence  of  our  Eepublic.  The  need  of  a  true  dictatorship  to  take  the 
place  of  royalty  was  soon  felt,  so  fruitless  was  the  anarchy  which  our 
first  trial  of  the  constitutional  regime  was  encouraging.  Unfortunately 
this  indispensable  dictatorship  soon  took  a  profoundly  retrograde  di- 
rection, combining  the  servitude  of  Prance  with  the  oppression  of 
Europe.  It  was  solely  as  a  recoil  from  this  deplorable  policy  that 
French  opinion  tolerated  subsequently  the  only  serious  trial  which 
could  be  made  amongst  us  of  a  regime  peculiar  to  the  English  situation. 
So  ill  did  it  meet  our  wants,  that,  despite  the  blessings  of  peace  through- 
out the  West,  its  official  existence  for  one  generation  was  more  fatal  to 
us  than  the  tyranny  of  the  empire  ;  perverting  as  it  did  the  intellect 
by  accustoming  it  to  constitutional  sophisms,  corrupting  the  heart  by 
-venal  or  anarchical  habits^  and  degrading  the  character  by  a  growing 
familiarity  with  parliamentar}-  tactics. 

In  consequence  of  the  fatal  absence  of  any  real  social  doctrine,  this 
disastrous  regime  continued  to  prevail,  under  other  forms,  after  the 
republican  outbreak  of  1848.  This  fresh  situation,  which  was  of  itself 
the  guarantee  of  progress,  and  concentrated  all  serious  anxiety  upon 
order,  under  both  aspects  required  the  normal  preponderance  of  the 
central  power.  But  on  the  contrary,  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  day 
that  the  elimination  of  a  futile  royalty  ought  to  lead  to  the  complete 
triumph  of  its  antagonist.  All  those  who  had  taken  an  active  share  in 
the  constitutional  regime,  whether  in  the  government,  the  opposition, 
or  the  conspiracies  of  the  time,  ought,  four  years  ago,  to  have  been 
banished  from  political  life  for  ever  as  unable  or  unworthy  to  guide  our 
Eepublic.  But  by  a  blind  enthusiasm,  to  these  very  raen  was  confided 
the  working  of  a  constitution  which  was  the  incarnation  of  parliament- 
ary omnipotence.  Universal  suffrage  extended  to  the  proletariate 
even  those  intellectual  and  moral  ravages  which  had  hitherto  been 
confined  to  the  upper  and  middle  classes.  The  central  power,  instead 
of  regaining  its  due  preponderance,  was  thus  deprived  of  the  prestige 
of  inviolability  and  of  perpetuity,  and  yet  remained  the  constitutional 
shadow  over  which  these  attributes  had  previously  thrown  a  veil  of 
illusion. 

Eeduced  to  this  extremity,  this  indispensable  power  has  fortunately 
now  asserted  itself  and  risen  with  energy  against  an  intolerable  situa- 
tion, as  disastrous  for  us  as  it  was  degrading.  The  popular  instinct 
has  allowed  the  anarchical  regime  to  fall  without  lifting  a  hand  in  its 
defence.  The  feeling  is  growing  in  France  that  constitutional  forms 
are  only  reconcileable  with  a  so-called  monarchy ;  and  that  a  dictator- 
ship is  what  our  Eepublic  is  calculated  for  and  demands.  And  the 
wisest  of  the  ten  constitutions  proclaimed  since  1789  has  moreover 
placed  on  a  regular  footing  our  present  republican  dictatorship,  in  such 


xliv  PEBFACE  TO 

a  way  that  it  can  be  peacefully  modified  to  meet  the  real  wants  of 
society,  and  by  the  light  of  normal  theory. 

This  new  phase  of  politics  allows  us  at  length  to  devote  our 
energies  to  the  working  out  of  an  universal  reorganisation.  Previously, 
the  only  question  actively  fermenting  in  the  public  mind  was  that  of 
progress  isolated  from  that  of  order,  its  very  root  intellectually  as  well 
as  morally.  Such  a  thesis,  as  irrational  as  it  is  immoral,  could  only 
be  entertained  by  talkers,  repelling  alike  thinkers  and  the  men  of 
action.  An  inane  form  of  metaphysics,  feeling  itself  incapable  of  deal- 
ing seriously  with  the  immense  question  of  order,  had  actually  attempted 
to  stiiie  it,  by  giving  a  legal  support  backed  by  material  force  to  the 
revolutionary  dogmas  which  any  really  organic  doctrine  must  begin  by 
excluding.  But  this  question  of  order,  which  can  never  be  dissociated 
from  that  of  progress,  having  in  the  republican  situation  at  length 
asserted  itself — and  no  other  situation  allows  and  calls  for  its  complete 
solution — nothing  can  henceforth  arrest  its  growing  preponderance,  if 
there  do  but  exist  in  our  social  environment  the  doctrine  really  able  to 
direct  such  an  elaboration.  Now  you.  Sir,  know  better  than  anyone, 
how  truly  this  competence  is  possessed  by  the  positive  philosophy  1  have 
constructed. 

When,  ten  years  ago,  I  concluded  my  fundamental  work,  I  therein 
laid  down  all  the  essential  bases  of  a  really  historical  policy,  in  which 
the  conception  of  the  future  rested  at  last  on  the  appreciation  of  the 
past,  in  accordance  with  a  sound  theory  of  the  whole  of  the  human 
movement.  But  this  policy  could  not  be  taken  into  account  by 
practical  men  until  it  bore  so  definite  a  shape  as  to  be  applicable  to 
the  present  Western  transition,  so  as  to  preside  over  that  indispensable 
intercalation  between  the  preparatory  and  the  definitive  stages  of 
Humanity.  Such  was  the  principal  object  of  the  public  course  of 
lectures  I  gave  in  1847,  and  which  your  feeling  as  a  citizen  induced 
you  to  honour  with  your  constant  presence.  This  complementary 
process  was  then  accomplished  as  fully  as  was  possible,  under  the  con- 
ditions of  the  monarchical  situation  ;  with  an  application  even  then  of 
my  fundamental  motto.  Order  and  Progress.  The  republican  outbreak 
having,  the  following  year,  scattered  the  mists  of  official  falsehood,  I 
was  at  once  enabled  to  work  out,  and  even  to  make  public,  this  new 
policy,  openly  destined  henceforth  to  direct  the  Western  movement  by 
setting  aside  for  ever  all  other  doctrines  theological  or  metaphysical, 
as  both  anarchical  and  retrograde.  A  great  advance,  both  as  to  deve- 
lopement  and  propaganda,  characterised  the  annual  course,  the  per- 
mission to  deliver  which  you  so  kindly  procured  for  me  from  the  only 
government  which  has  hitherto  freely  respected  my  just  spiritual  inde- 
pendence, the  long  and  laborious  conquest  of  a  devoted  life. 

But  this  public  exposition  and  this  direct  propaganda  naturally 
presented  two  distinct  phases.     In  breaking  up  the  different  existing 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xlv 

parties  in  order  to  absorb  them  into  the  true  constructive  party,  Posi- 
tivism ought  equally  to  attract  all  those  respectable  conservatives  who 
are  not  essentially  retrograde,  and  all  those  honest  revolutionists  who 
are  not  radically  anarchical.  But  these  conversions  cannot  be  simul- 
taneous in  the  two  classes  as  a  rule.  It  is  the  instinct  of  conservatives 
in  general  to  reject  any  great  innovation,  lest  they  in  their  inorganic 
state  should  chance  to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  any  of  those  really 
dangerous  doctrines  which  now  abound.  And  yet  a  thorough  reorgani- 
sation requires  the  renunciation  of  all  those  ancient  doctrines  which, 
whether  by  their  weakness,  or  by  their  violence,  have  been  the  cause 
of  the  existing  anarchy.  Thus  the  regenerating  philosophy  is  abso- 
lutely obliged  to  address  itself  first  to  the  revolutionary  party,  who  alone 
as  yet  have  shown  that  they  are  not  averse  even  to  a  radical  change  of 
opinion,  if  only  the  metaphysical  prejudices  peculiar  to  tlieni  can  be 
overcome.  It  is  therefore  to  them  that  I  have  principally  directed  my 
action  during  the  three  years  which  have  just  ended,  in  a  situation  too 
very  stimulating  to  the  activity,  too  often  ill-regulated,  of  such  minds. 
You  are  already  aware  of  the  signal  successes  which  the  Positive  school, 
small  though  it  yet  is,  has  achieved  in  this  part  of  the  social  camp. 
Still  I  think  it  advisable  to  state  here  the  decisive  result  which  marks 
these  successes,  and  proves  that  this  first  operation  has  been  effectually 
carried  out,  and  that  the  efforts  I  am  now  about  to  make  in  the  oppo- 
site camp  are  opportune. 

In  the  fundamental  discourse  in  vrhich,  in  1848, 1  gave  the  '  General 
View  '  of  Positivism  as  presented  in  my  course  of  lectures  of  1847,  I 
reduced  the  difference  between  the  new  school  and  all  other  reforming 
sects  to  the  order  in  which  each  separately  conceived  and  treated  the 
two  great  questions  of  the  West,  the  regeneration  of  education  and  the 
systematisation  of  labour.  Positivists  are  the  only  men  of  the  time 
■who,  putting  the  spiritual  problem  before  the  temporal  investigation, 
would  make  an  intellectual  and  moral  renovation  the  basis  of  industrial 
reorganisation.  All  other  reformers,  despite  their  innumerable  diver- 
gencies, agree  in  reversing  this  order,  and  would  proceed  to  the  tem- 
poral reorganisation  of  society,  without  any  previous  discipline  of 
opinions  and  customs.  It  would  be  superfluous  to  insist  further  to  you 
on  the  glaring  opposition  of  principle  and  of  conduct  which  such  a 
transposition  involves.  In  referring  to  it  here,  my  object  is  to  give  a 
standard  by  which  to  measure  the  value  of  true  conversions  from  the 
revolutionary  party,  which  to  be  complete  must  not  stop  short  of  this 
difficult  inversion  of  the  point  of  view.  Now  this  change  has  actually 
been  made  by  some  eminent  workmen  capable  of  spreading  it  by  their 
unaided  exertions,  and  so  setting  me  free  henceforth  from  this  duty. 
In  fact  you  rightly  appreciated,  in  our  pleasant  interview  of  November 
28,  1851,  the  admirable  resolution  of  the  ci-devant  communists  of 
Lyons  recently  converted  to  Positivism.     In  answer  to  the  metaphysical 


xlvi  PEEFACE  TO 

sophisms  of  two  representatives  on  their  anarchical  tour,  they  solemnly 
declared  that  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  people  must  precede  their 
material  enfranchisement. 

Such  a  success  allows,  and  even  obliges  the  sound  philosophy  and 
the  true  religion  to  devote  their  chief  social  efforts  henceforth  to  sincere 
conservatives.  The  two  may  now  be  able  so  to  overcome  their  in- 
stinctive repugnance ;  since  crucial  experiences  have  demonstrated 
the  inherent  power  of  Positivism  thoroughly  to  discipline  the  most 
ardent  revolutionists,  by  obtaining  from  them  the  acceptance  of  order 
in  the  name  of  progress.  I  must  then,  henceforth,  specially  develope 
the  second  part  of  my  social  mission  and  obtain  the  free  acceptance  of 
progress  in  the  name  of  order,  by  making  it  my  chief  care  to  remove 
the  misgivings  of  the  conservative  party.  Such  will  be  the  characteristic 
feature  of  my  next  course,  in  a  situation  which  at  length  ensures  the 
question  of  order  its  normal  preponderance.  At  a  time  when  progress 
consists  especially  in  construction,  I  may  hope  to  secure  a  satisfactory 
appreciation  of  it  as  but  the  necessary  developement  of  order. 

Whatever   academic  talkers   may   say,   this   immense  question  is 
undoubtedly  both  stated  and  conceived  in  too  narrow  a  sense  by  those 
honourable  practical  men  who   alone  treat  it  seriously.     Nevertheless, 
it  ought  to  be  easy  for  me  to  succeed  in  showing  how  wide  a  field  it 
embraces,  as  a  consequence  of  its  eminently  synthetic  nature.     Having 
been  able  so  far  to  overcome  revolutionary  prejudices  as  to  convince 
them  of  the  close  connection  in  which,  through  intellectual  progress, 
material  and  moral  progress  are  held,  I  shall  still  more  easily  demon- 
strate the  similar  connection  that  exists  between  the  three  corresponding 
manifestations   of  human  order.     All  who  are  sincerely  bent  on  pre- 
serving material  order  in  the    midst    of  our   intellectual   and   moral 
disorder,  are  already  feeling  that  their  task  will  soon  become  impossible, 
if  the  spiritual  reorganisation  be  not  steadily  pursued.     This  conviction 
even  leads  them  in  their  want  of  systematic  guidance  to  invoke  as  a 
social  influence,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  the  only  quarter  from 
which  they  see  any  hopes  of  the  discipline  they  require.     But  this  cry 
of  despair  disjoined  from  any  sincere  belief  does  not  prevent  a  secret 
feeling  of  the  radical  powerlessness  of  a  doctrine  which,  since  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  has  allowed  the  break-up  of  opinions  and  habits,  and 
has  not  even  been  able  to  avoid  compromising  all  that  it  seeks  to  protect. 
Experience,  private  and  public,  shows  us  with  increasing  clearness 
that  the  state  of  revolt  in  which   our  modern  intellect  exists  can  only 
be  ended  by  a  completely  positive  philosophy,  the  only  power  com- 
petent in  the  present  day  to  establish  fixedand  common  convictions  based 
upon  real  demonstrations,  and  finally  to  substitute  the  peaceful  deter- 
mination  of  duties  for   the  stormy  discussion   of   rights.     Positivists 
seek,  even  more  zealously  than  Catholics,  to    set  aside   for   ever   all 
metaphysical  influences,  which  only  lead  to  endless  oscillations.     Our 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xlvii 

aim  is,  like  theirs,  to  bring  back  the  West  to  a  universal  religion, 
thoroughly  competent  to  guide  and  unite  both  our  intellects  and  hearts, 
and  failing  which  our  modern  anarchy  will  find  no  issue.  Demanding 
free  scope  for  their  doctrine,  with  the  profound  veneration  which  its 
ancient  benefits  excite  in  us,  we  ask  an  equal  freedom  for  our  own 
but  without  expecting  from  them  an  equal  justice.  When  these 
demands  are  granted,  it  will  be  for  the  practical  men,  in  public  and  in 
private  life,  to  make  a  wise  choice  between  the  two  religions,  a  choice 
determined  by  their  social  efficacy,  weighed  by  reason  and  observation. 
I  may  therefore  expect  that  Government  will  not  cease  to  afford  my 
gratuitous  apostolate  those  facilities  which  all  thinkers  now  deserve 
who  respect  and  support  material  order,  the  only  essential  object  of 
official  superintendence.  No  majority  of  votes  can  invest  the  re- 
publican power  with  the  right  of  prescribing  or  proscribing  opinions 
with  regard  to  which  its  conistituents  are  yet  more  incompetent  than 
itself  Its  proper  function  in  these  questions  is  to  put  down  all  really 
anarchical  teaching.  But  in  an  atmosphere  wholly  free  irom  fana- 
ticism, a  system  which  consolidates  the  various  essential  bases  of  society 
will  V  always  have  the  respect  of  the  temporal  power,  notwithstanding 
that  it  find  on  the  earth  the  fulcrum  which  heaven  no  longer  affords. 
Eather  should  the  crisis,  which  has  now  brought  into  just  preponder- 
ance the  question  of  order  and  the  central  power,  give  additional 
security  to  my  independence  as  a  philosopher,  for  it  manifests  yet 
more  strongly  the  opportuneness  of  the  doctrine  best  adapted  to  develope 
in  our  age  the  respect  for  order  and  for  the  concentration  of  power. 
Giving  its  sanction  to  the  authorities  who  chance  to  be  in  power, 
in  the  name  of  the  past  and  of  the  future,  it  alone  can  assure  them 
sincere  veneration,  never  to  be  won  by  a  simply  material  government, 
which  secures  obedience  by  brute  force,  and  neither  appeals  to  reason 
nor  inspires  love. 

You,  Sir,  who  for  thirty  years,  have  been  carefully  watching  my 
career  as  a  philosopher,  know  that,  thirty  years  ago,  I  had  adopted  as 
the  immediate  and  avowed  aim  of  my  life  a  satisfactory  reconstruction 
of  the  spiritual  power,  admirably  shadowed  forth  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
This  power,  being  the  only  one  which  acts  directly  on  the  will,  can 
alone  consecrate  all  others,  whilst  its  true  organs,  though  isolated  and 
poor,  can,  in  their  own  sphere,  rise  superior  to  the  forces  whether 
of  numbers  or  of  wealth,  because  they  alone  represent  Humanity  in  its 
fulness.  But  the  final  reconstruction  of  the  spiritual  power,  though  it 
required  a  single  brain,  consisted  necessarily  of  two  distinct  parts, 
answering  to  the  two  aspects,  the  one  intellectual,  the  other  moral, 
of  the  Western  disorder,  as  to  the  two  elements,  faith  and  love,  of  the 
leligion  which  will  heal  that  disorder.  The  sentiments,  despite  their 
increasing  perversion,  are  yet  the  sole  supports  of  our  existing  society  : 
they   are  essentially    only   troubled  through  the  medium  of  the  dis- 


xlviii  PREFACE  TO 

tiirbance  of  our  ideas.  Thus,  the  disease  being  primarily  and  chiefly 
intellectual,  my  first  step  was,  of  necessity,  to  construct,  upon  the 
scientific  bases  which  the  modern  evolution  has  laid  down,  a  philosophy 
able  to  restore  to  the  West  a  body  of  systematic  convictions,  by  sub- 
stitutinj^,  and  that  in  the  positive  order,  a  large  consideration  of  the 
whole  for  a  minute  attention  to  its  parts.  Such  was,  as  you  know,  the 
special  aim,  and,  I  venture  to  add,  the  actual  result,  of  the  fundamental 
work  which  I  completed  ten  years  since.  All  its  vital  principles  are 
now  adopted  by  the  real  thinkers  of  the  West  in  a  degree  far  beyond 
that  anticipated  by  my  early  hopes. 

But,  though  the  greatest  difficulty  was  thus  overcome,  this  effort  was 
but  a  simple  preliminary  to  the  real  purpose  I  had  constantly  had  in 
view.  The  next  step  was  to  prove  that  the  new  philosophy,  which 
directly  reorganised  modern  thought,  could  completely  carry  out  its 
normal  functions  by  becoming  the  foundation  of  the  only  religion 
capable  of  reorganising  also  our  feelings,  the  supreme  motor-power 
in  human  life.  In  a  word,  to  the  career  of  Aristotle  that  of  St.  Paul 
must  succeed,  or  the  incomparable  mission  I  had  at  the  outset  ven- 
tured to  assign  myself  would  utterly  fail. 

True  it  is  that  my  construction  of  social  science  established  a 
powerful  discipline  of  the  intellect  by  showing  what  was  the  mental 
training  and  what  the  scientific  acquirements,  indispensable  for  any 
sound  sociological  elaboration,  and  thus  showing  such  an  elaboration 
to  be,  in  all  reason,  on  the  score  of  proved  incompetence,  beyond  the 
scope  of  those  who  at  present  busy  themselves  with  it.  The  practical 
instincts  also  found  their  sphere  limited ;  for  social  phenomena,  though 
the  most  modifiable  of  all,  are  by  their  nature  shown  to  be  subject  to 
invariable  laws,  upon  which  the  artificial  order  must  always  be  based  ; 
since  the  future  we  would  prepare  is  the  essential  result  of  a  past  we 
cannot  alter.  Nevertheless  these  two  steps  towards  the  discipline 
indispensable  for  all  organisation  could  not  have  been  realised  in  prac- 
tice unless  the  moral  excellence  of  Positivism  could  rise  to  the  level  of 
its  intellectual  excellence.  For  retrograde  and  anarchical  conceptions 
are  still  in  apparent  possession  of  the  domain  of  morality,  whence  their 
metaphysical  theology  seemed  likely  indefinitely  to  exclude  a  science 
which,  taking  its  rise  in  the  simplest  ideas,  appeared  for  a  long  while 
unable  to  deal  with  the  noblest  sentiments. 

Nothing  then  could  absolve  me  from  the  duty  of  devoting  the 
second  period  of  my  career  to  setting  forth  Positivism  as  a  really 
complete  doctrine,  as  religious  as  it  was  philosophic  in  spirit,  as  able  to 
touch  the  heart  as  to  direct  the  intellect.  This  decisive  work  was  fully 
characterised  by  my  course  of  lectures  of  1847,  in  which  I  directly 
adopted  the  whole  Catholic  programme  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  proved 
that  the  positive  basis  was  better  suited  to  it  than  any  theological  basis. 
But  all  those  who  know  the  first  volume,  published  in  July  1851,  of 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  xlix 

my  System  of  Positive  Polity,  are  now  aware  that  this  fundamental 
course  was  itself  the  fruit  of  the  exceptional  Dedication  which  I  wrote 
for  my  own  use  in  1846,  led  thereto  by  an  incomparable  private  affec- 
tion. 

It  is  only  in  this  last  stage  that  Positivism,  becoming  before  all 
things  moral  and  religious,  could  directly  pursue  its  social  destination, 
by  leaving  the  region  of  philosophy  to  seek  a  home  with  the  proletariate 
and  with  women.  In  so  doing,  it  instituted  an  increasing  rivalry  with 
Catholicism  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  "Western  order,  and  it  is  this 
which  gives  a  really  capital  importance  to  the  gratuitous  oral  teaching 
which  you  have  so  nobly  protected  hitherto. 

But  this  very  object  imposes  upon  me  at  this  time  a  fresh  care  that 
I  may  preserve  from  any  encroachment  of  the  temporal  power  the 
spiritual  independence  I  have  honourably  gained.  As  a  consequence  of 
the  decisive  guarantees  I  have  more  and  more  given  to  public  tran- 
quility, it  is  for  me  alone  to  decide,  now  as  formerly,  what  I  shall  say 
and  what  I  shall  not  say.  For  the  government,  while  sanctioning  those 
teachings  which  it  considers  inoffensive  as  regards  material  order  and 
favourable  to  the  reestablishment  of  moral  order,  is  in  general  exempt 
from  all  special  responsibility  for  any  of  my  opinions.  If  the  last 
crisis  were  to  induce  it  to  interfere  with  an  exposition  of  which  it  is 
incapable  of  seeing  the  philosophic  and  religious  bearing,  it  would  be  my 
duty  rather  to  observe  perfect  silence  provisionally,  than  to  accept  a 
partial  liberty,  which  would  weaken  my  spiritual  influence  more  than 
it  could  further  my  present  propaganda.  But  the  happy  experience 
of  the  three  previous  years  ought  to  relieve  me  from  any  such  fear 
now,  however  necessary  it  was  that  I  should  explain  myself  on  the 
point  in  this  place,  to  avoid  all  misunderstanding. 

Far  from  fearing  that  this  fourth  course  will  have  more  obstacles  to 
encounter  than  the  preceding  ones,  I  hope,  that  by  gaining  the  serious 
attention  of  true  conservatives,  it  will  put  a  timely  end  to  those  general 
restrictions  which  the  present  dictatorship  has  thought  fit  to  impose 
temporarily,  in  the  interests  of  order,  on  the  normal  liberty  of  exposi- 
tion, or  at  least  of  discussion.  This  measure  is  in  fact  only  justified 
by  the  special  danger  to  which  the  various  subversive  Utopias  of  the 
day  expose  us,  because  their  sophisms,  though  the  public  in  a  vague 
way  instinctively  shrink  from  them,  find  as  yet  no  official  doctrine  to 
refute  them.  But  this  impotence  of  all  theological  or  metaphysical 
philosophy  is  now  at  length  fully  compensated  by  the  organic  power 
of  Positive  philosophy.  If  statesmen  will  but  smooth  the  way  for  the 
working  of  this  healing  doctrine,  they  may  Cease  to  trouble  themselves 
about  errors  which  a  thorough  discussion  alone  can  remove. 

That  I  may  make  quite  clear  what  is  the  spiritual  independence 
which  is  indispensable  to  my  mission,  I  must.  Sir,  in  the  last  place 
mention  to  you  the  personal  attitude  definitively  befitting  my  spiritual 
VOL,  rv.  c 


1  PEEFACE  TO 

office,  in  order  to  offer,  to  government  as  to  the  public,  a  satisfactory 
guarantee  of  my  exclusive  devotion  to  the  priesthood  of  Humanity. 

At  our  last  interview,  you,  with  generous  solicitude,  were  good 
enough  to  ask  me  how  you  could  assist  in  remedying  the  loss  I  had 
sustained  by  the  disgraceful  withdrawal  of  my 'post  at  the  Polytechnic, 
just  then  completed  by  the  unworthy  coteries  of  that  institution.  I 
now  solemnly  reply  that  the  only  means  is  to  make  known  amongst 
conservatives  as  opportunity  shall  serve,  in  order  that  they  may  join 
in  it,  that  noble  public  subscription  which  was  exceptionally  opened, 
three  years  ago,  in  order  to  neutralise  that  legal  robbery,  so  as  to  allow 
me  to  complete  undisturbed  my  great  construction. 

Hitherto  chiefly  derived  from  revolutionary  sources,  this  voluntary 
annual  subsidy  still  fell  far  short  of  the  minimum  originally  named  as 
indispensable.  But  since  the  recent  spread  of  Positivism  to  the 
United  States  of  America,  it  has  been  shown  by  some  eminent  examples 
that  genuine  conservatives  may  yet  take  part  in  it.  For  in  the  most 
anarchical  of  the  Western  populations,  the  Positive  religion  is  invoked, 
in  the  interests  of  order  above  all,  by  statesmen  who  ai-e,  by  the  impos- 
sibility of  calling  any  armed  forces  to  their  aid,  preserved  from  aU 
serious  illusions  as  to  the  true  nature  of  the  modem  disorder.  This 
disposition,  though  by  the  nature  of  things  it  has  first  shown  itself  in 
America,  will  soon  spread  to  our  own  statesmen  in  proportion  as  the 
situation  brings  into  stronger  relief  the  character  of  our  social  malady, 
and  the  inadequacy  of  the  actual  remedies.  If  then  it  is  your  judgment, 
Sir,  that  the  services  I  have  already  rendered  to  the  great  cause  of 
Western  order  merit  such  a  recompense,  I  venture  to  ask  you  openly  to 
urge,  as  far  as  you  can,  sincere  and  enlightened  conservatives  to  join  in 
a  subscription  which  will  for  the  rest  of  my  life  be  my  sole  resource 
materially.  The  most  distinguished  contributors  may  with  propriety 
add  their  sums  to  the  smallest  mite  of  the  proletariate.  For  in  both 
classes  alike  I  shall  only  see  spiritual  clients  who  have  become  my 
temporal  patrons. 

The  new  strength  which  my  various  works  will  bring  to  the  side 
of  order  might,  indeed,  determine  the  government  to  offer  me  some 
equivalent  for  that  privation  of  my  office  at  the  Polytechnic  which  a 
defect  in  the  law  compelled  it  under  our  different  changes  of  regime 
to  see  me  suffer.  But  even  in  this  case,  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
never  to  accept  any  kind  of  annuity,  or  official  post,  even  though 
scientific. 

In  their  blind  hostility,  my  contemptible  enemies  of  the  Academy 
have  step  by  step  driven  me  to  the  mode  of  existence  in  most  perfect 
harmony  with  my  principal  mission,  the  various  services  attached  to 
which  must  always  be  gratuitous.  The  founder  of  the  Eeligion  of 
Humanity  ought  evidently  to  be  supported  by  the  voluntary  yearly 
offerings  of  all  his  sincere  adherents.     In  the  first  place,  this'  normal 


THE  SECOND  VOLUME.  li 

procedure  is  the  most  conducive  to  the  good  use  of  the  few  years  of 
full  vigour  of  brain  that  I  can  yet  devote  to  my  fundamental  office. 
But  it  must  also  add  another  guarantee  to  that  complete  indepen- 
■dence  socially  which  my  destination  demands.  In  a  time  when  the 
principal  disturbance  atises  from  the  political  ambition  of  theoricians, 
•erroneously  so-called,  both  governments  and  peoples  have  a  claim  to  be 
seemed  by  the  personal  position  of  the  new  spiritual  chief  against  his 
temptations  to  usurpations  and  to  concessions.  It  is,  then,  my  duty, 
though  at  the  cost  of  some  material  difficulties,  scrupulously  to 
preserve  the  normal  attitude  in  which  I  find  myself.  Should  I 
-abandon  it,  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  obtain  the  complete  moral 
-ascendancy  indispensable  to  the  worthy  fulfilment  of  that  great  enter- 
prise which  has  been,  as  you  know,  from  my  youth  upwards,  the 
systematic  destination  of  my  whole  life. 

When,  Sir,  you  shall  have  sufficiently  studied  this  necessary 
explanation,  I  hope  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  give  me  as  early  an 
-appointment  as  possible,  that  we  may  discuss  the  resumption  of  vxj 
annual  course.  If  you  should  judge  it  useful  to  communicate  my 
letter  to  any  one,  you  are  at  liberty  to  do  so.  I  myself  intend  to  add 
it,  as  it  stands,  to  the  preface  of  the  volume  I  hope  to  publish  in  July, 
the  second  volume  of  my  System  of  Positive  Polity. 

Health  and  Fraternity. 

AUGUSTE    COMTE. 
(10,  Eue  MoDsieur-le-Prince.) 


c  2 


THE  OCCIDENTAL  KEVIEW; 

OE, 

dontinuous  application  of  Positivism  to  the  natural  course  of  human 
events,  contemplated  both  in  the  past  and  in  the  future,  with  a 
view  to  the  systematic  appreciation  of  the  intellectual  and  social 
movement  of  the  five  advanced  populations,  the  French,  the  Italian, 
the  Spanish,  the  German  and  the  Britannic,  which  constitute,  since 
the  time  of  Charlemagne,  the  great  Western  Eepublic.  A  quarterly 
publication  (at  the  beginning  of  each  season)  founded  and  directed 
by  Auguste  Comte,  author  of  the  System  of  Positive  Philosophy, 
and  of  the  System  of  Positive  Polity, 

Paris.  The  first  number  of  the  Occidental  Eeview  will  appear  at 
the  beginning  of  next  winter,  if  the  following  project  can  be  carried 
out  in  time. 

Positivist  Subscription  in  order  to  found  the  Occidental  Review.  % 

1.  M.  Auguste  Comte,  founder  of  the  Occidental  Eeview,  is  sole 
director  and  proprietor  of  it.  His  office,  whether  as  director  or  editor, 
is  strictly  gratuitous. 

2.  When  the  Eeview  shall  be  sufiiciently  established,  M.  Comte 
will  choose  a  successor  in  the  event  of  his  death,  and  this  successor 
shall,  in  his  turn,  make  a  similar  choice,  and  so  on  as  long  as  the 
ftmction  shall  continue. 

3.  In  order  to  secure  a  fair  development  for  this  philosophico-social 
experiment,  M.  Comte  asks  for  an  annual  sum  of  10,000  francs  (400?.) 
for  three  years,  to  be  repaid  in  the  manner  hereafter  indicated. 

4.  This  grant  is  to  consist  of  100  subscriptions,  each  of  which 
obliges  its  signatary  to  furnish  100  francs  (4/.)  at  the  beginning  of  each 
•of  the  three  trial  years. 

5.  A  single  individual  may  take  any  number  of  these  subscriptions 
Several  individuals  may  unite  to  take  a  single  subscription,  but  under 
one  name. 

6.  All  the  subscriptions  are  strictly  personal,  none  are  transferable 
without  the  special  consent  of  M.  Comte. 

7.  Each  subscription  secures  a  copy  of  the  Eeview,  even  after  the 
whole  sum  is  paid  off. 

8.  Each  subscription  is  for  a  yearly  volume,  consisting  of  four 


liv  PEEPACE  TO  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 

quarterly  numbers.     It  costs  10  francs  (8«.)  for  all  those  parts  of  the- 
"West  to  which  there  are  satisfactory  means  of  sending  books. 

9.  Each  number  may  be  procured,  for  the  sum  of  3  francs  for 
the  public,  and  2  francs  for  booksellers,  on  applying  to  the  Director 
of  the  Review  (10  rue  Monsieur-le-Prince,  Paris). 

10.  At  the  end  of  each  year,  one-half  the  profits  of  the  undertaking 
is  to  be  devoted  to  extending  it,  whether  by  a  larger  issue,  an  increase- 
of  remuneration  to  the  contributors,  or  if  possible,  by  making  the 
publication  monthly. 

11.  The  remaining  half  of  the  profits  is  to  repay,  in  an  order  to  be- 
ascertained  each  time  by  lot,  the  original  subscriptions,  with  the- 
interest  consequent  on  their  direction. 

12.  This  interest  is  to  be  at  a  rate  fixed  at  first  by  each  subscriber,, 
but  never  to  exceed  7  per  cent,  per  annum. 

13.  At  the  close  of  every  year's  operations,  each  subscriber  shall 
receive  from  the  Director  of  the  Review,  a  complete  printed  statement 
of  the  position  of  the  undertaking. 

14.  Each  quarterly  number  contains  10  printed  sheets  8vo.  imiform, 
in  type  with  the  System  of  Positive  Polity  (32  lines  of  50  letters  each 
to  the  page). 

15.  One  thousand  copies  shall  be  printed  at  first,  including  those 
subscribed  for. 

16.  Every  number  shall  contain  5  articles  at  least,  7  at  most,, 
always  relating  to  the  intellectual  or  social  condition  of  the  West,  but 
general  principles  -\vill  only  be  introduced  so  far  as  their  special  and 
opportune  application  requires. 

17.  The  remuneration  of  the  contributors  is  paid  pro-yisionally  at 
100  francs  the  sheet  for  beginners,  150  fi:ancs  for  those  who  have  had 
experience,  and  200  francs  for  -writers  of  recognised  ability. 

18.  Although  the  articles  are  published  in  French,  they  may  be 
written  in  any  other  of  the  five  Western  languages,  the  Editor  making 
himself  responsible  for  their  translation. 

19.  No  article  shall  appear  without  the  real  and  full  signature  of 
its  author. 

General  estimate  of  the  quarterly  expenses. 

Average  payments  to  the  contributors  to  each  number  .     1,400  francs. 
■  Expenses  of  publication  (at  25  francs  the  composition 
of  each  sheet,  45  francs  the  printing  of  1,000  copies 
of  it,  and  50  francs  for  postage)      ....     1,100  francs. 

AUGUSTE    COMTE. 
(10,  Hue  Monsieui-le-Prince.) 
Paris,  8  Archimedes,  64  (Thursday,  April  1,  1852). 

END    OF   PREFACE. 


CONTENTS 


OF 


THE      FOUETH      VOLUME. 


SyNIHEIICAL  PkESENIAIION  OE  the  FtrTTTRE  OE  Majt. 
General  Introduction  ....... 


PAGE 
1 


OHAPTER  I. 


ETTBTDAMBNTAI,  THBOKT  OF  THE  9EEAT  BEIUe  ;  WHENCE  A  CONSPBCITTS 
01  THE  EELieiON  OE  THE  RACE  AND  OE  ITS  EXISTENCE  IN  THE 
NORMAX   STATE. 

I.  Special  Introduction       .......  8-27 

II.  Systematic  explanation  op  HtnuANiTY  as  the  Gbeat  Being  .  27-85 
The  priesthood  of  Humanity  may  now  embrace  the  future  as  well  as  the 

past,  becoming  prophet  as  well  as  judge .....        8 

Its  threefold  social  function,  Counsel,  Consecration,  Discipline  .  ,         8 

Test  of  its  competence  .'.....         8 

Difficulty  of  reconciling  ordei;  and  progress  shown  historically  .  .         8 

Oscillation  between  the  two,  the  apparent  result        .  .  .  .9 

The  remedy  to  be  found  in  the  true  picture  of  the  Future      .  .  .10 

Affinity  of  Positivism  for  the  previous  regimes  .  .  .  .10 

All  their  programmes  subordinate  to  that  of  the  Theocracy  .  .  .11 

Completeness  the  test  of  true  discipline  .  ■  .  .  .11 

Priesthoods  of  China  and  India  .  .  .  .  .  .11 

The  formula  of  Theocracy  adopted  by  Sociocracy       .  .  .  .11 

Affinity  of  Positivism  with  the  three  partial  transitions         .  .  .12 

The  Greek 12 

The  Roman     .........       13 

The  Mediaeval  ........       13 

Its  affinity  with  the  modern  revolution  .  .  .  .  .14 

The  Fetichist  period  reserved  .  .  .  .  .  .14 

Eesult  of  the  five  comparisons  .  .  .  .  .  .15 

The  fusion  of  the  future  with  the  past  guarantees  stability  and  offers 

guidance  .........       15 


Ivi  CONTENTS  OF 

PAGE 

The  neglect  of  this  method  explains  the  impotence  of  modem  Utopias  .       15 

Properties  of  the  Positive  Eeligion(l)  Prevision        .             .             .  .16 

Prevision  most  applicable  to  human  phenomena         .             .             •  .17 

The  true  synthesis  now  estabUshed     .             .             .             .             .  .17 

(2),  Innateness  of  altruism      .             .             .             .             .             .  .17 

Its  necessity  if  we  would  construct  a  systematic  morality       .             .  .18 

Statically  and  dynamically      .             .             .             .             .             .  .18 

The  two  attributes  henceforth  inseparable     .             .             .             .  .19 

Previous  recognition  of  the  two  in  Fetichism,  Polytheism,  and  Monotheism        20 

The  hostility  of  Monotheism  confined  to  its  decline     .                          .  .       21 
Formation  under  the  old  regime  of  the  habits  and  principle  adapted  to  our 

maturity  .  ......       21 

The  Habits                   .......  21 

The  Principle  .  .  .....       22 

The  Family,  the  Country,  Humanity .             .             .             .             •  .22 

The  West  intercalated            .             .             .             .             .             .  .23 

The  determination  of  the  future  depends  on  the  explanation  of  the  past  23 

Systematic  explanation  of  Humanity .             .             .             .             .  .24 

Humanity  real  and  useful                    ....  .24 

Eeality            ...                          .             .  .24 

Utility             ......                          .  25 

Successive  germs  of  the  conception      ....  .26 

The  three  preliminary  apergus  of  Pascal,  Leibnitz,  and  Condorcet     .  .       27 

Definition  of  Humanity.     Theory        .             .             .             .             .  .27 

(I.)  Constitution  of  Humanity.     Distinction  between  elements  and  agents  .       27 

The  elements  subordinate  to  the  whole           ....  28 

Humanity  alone  not  indistinct  nor  arbitrary  ....  28 

Humanity  indivisible .....                          .  .       29 

Subject  to  the  law  of  growth  and  improvement,  to  be  judged  therefore  in  its 

adult  state            .....                          .  .       29 

The  ministers  of  Humanity     .             .             .             .             .             .  .30 

The  problem  is,  how  to  combine  concert  with  independence  .  .       30 

The  actual  generation  dependent  on  the  past  and  the  future .             .  31 

Continuity  in  the  Family        ....  .31 

■Continuity  as  limited  to  the  past  and  present             .             .             .  .31 

The  Dead.     The  subjective  existence .  .  .  .31 

The  Dead  represent  Humanity                         .             .                          .  .       32 

Superiority  of  the  subjective  life         .             .             .             .             .  .32 

Necessity  of  the  objective       .             .                                       .  32 

Incorporation  of  the  animals  into  Humanity  .  33 

(II. )  Situation  of  Humanity   .....  .33 

Her  ultimate  dependence  on  the  human  order                          .  .       33 

Dependent  also  on  the  external           ...  34 

As  Humanity  is  dependent,  so  are  her  individual  servants                  .  .       34 

This  dependence  the  source  of  her  greatness    .             .  .34 

(III.)  Destination  of  Humanity.     Sphere  of  her  action  the  Human  order  35 

This  most  applicable  to  the  Future,  but  true  of  the  Past       .             .  35 

This  Theory  the  basis  of  the  Positive  Construction    .                          .  36 

Its  synthetical  power .             .             .             .             .             .             .  .36 

Its  future  ef&cacy  seen  by  the  results  already  attained            ,             .  .36 
Eelatious  of  Positive  Eeligion  with  Fetichism  and  Theologism.     The  latter 

eliminated  ■••-....       37 


THE  FOUETH  VOLUME. 


Ivii 


FAQB 

Petichism  incorporated  .......       37 

The  fusion  viewed  intellectually,  esthetieally,  morally  .  .  .38 

'The  two  extreme  ages  of  Humanity  thus  combined    •  .  .  .38 

No  inconsistency  in  excluding  Theologism       .  .  .  .  .38 

With  the  aid  of  Fetichism  Positive  Religion  can  construct  the  ultimate 

unity,  abstract  and  concrete        .  .  .  .  .  .39 

Absteaot  View  .......  40-54 

Positivism  combines  all  aspects  of  human  existence   .  .  .  .40 

Alone  secures  the  supremacy  of  Love  ....  .40 

Realises  all  previous  aspirations        .  .  .  .  .  .41 

(I.)  "Unity  of  Feeling  ........       41 

Diversity  of  the  sympathetic  instincts  ...  .42 

Their  training  in  the  preparatory  period         .  .  .  .  .42 

Their  fate  in  modern  times     .......       43 

They  are  the  true  domain  of  the  Positive  spirit  .  .  .  .43 

Chief  attribute  of  human  Unity :  duty  and  happiness  coincident         .  43-44 

Feeling  to  be  encouraged  for  its  own  sake      .  .  .  .  .44 

Living  for  others,  others  live  for  us    ....  .  44 

■Subjective  immortality  the  reward  of  a  noble  life       .  .  .45 

(II.)  Intellectual  Unity,      (a)  Art      .  .  .  .  45 

More  sympathetic  and  more  synthetic  than  science     .  .  .  .45 

More  closely  connected  with  religion  .  .  .  .  .  .46 

Art  in  education  equal  to  science,  in  real  life  superior  .  .  .46 

Testimony  of  the  past  .  .  .  .  .  .  .47 

New  instruments  of  poetry ;  subjective  milieus  .  .  .  .47 

Space  hitherto  the  only  instance  .  .  .  .  .  .47 

The  philosophy  of  art  in  relation  to  that  of  science  .  .  .  .48 

ib)  Science.     All  positive  theories  converge  towards  the  science  of  man       .       48 
This  convergence  as  regards  the  developement  of  the  sympathetic  instincts  .       49 
Dreams  .......  49 

Positivisin  offers  science  a  better  field  and  a  better  method    .  .  .50 

The  aid  images  will  bring  to  science  .  .  .  .  .  60 

.(in.)  Unity  of  action,     (a)  Order     .  .  .  .  .  .61 

Easier  to  organise  Industry  than  Intellect      .  .  .  .  .51 

Conservation  and  increase  of  the  collective  treasure  of  Humanity       .  .       52 

The  two  require  two  distinct  services  ....  52 

Government  and  obedience  both  regulated      ....  53 

Influence  of  the  habitual  consciousness  of  usefulness  .  .  .  .53 

(6)  Progress     .........       63 

Industry  so  constituted  favours  feeling  and  intellect  ...  64 

■CoNCKETE  View  .......  64-75 

I.  Constitution  of  the  Sociocracy.     II.  Its  separate  elements  .  64 

Principles  on  which  we  classify  these  elements  .  .  .  .54 

Women  superior  in  sympathy .  .  ....       55 

The  distinction  of  the  sexes  answers  to  that  between  private  and  public 

life 56 

Distinction  between  practicians  and  theoricians  ...  56 

•Consequences  of  these  distinctions       .....  56 

Distinction  of  the  patriciate  and  proletariate  ....  67 

Function  of  the  proletariate   .  .  .  .  .  .  .57 

The  animal  auxiliaiies  of  Humanity  .  .  .  .  .  .68 

The  character  of  the  sociocratic  elements        .  .  .  .  .68 


Iviii  CONTENTS  OF 

PAGR. 

Woman's  independence  .....-•       59' 

Change  of  view  as  to  the  function  of  Eeproduction      .             .             .  .59 

Hypothesis.     The  reproductive  function  exclusively  female  .             .  .60- 

Conditions  of  woman's  independence  .             .             '             •             •  .61 

Result  of  education  on  woman             ....  .61 

Value  for  her  of  the  Encyclopsedie  training     .             .             .             .  .62 

Woman  offers  less  difficulty  than  the  active  class        ...  62 

The  Spiritual  Poorer.     Conditions  of  its  independence             .             .  .63- 

Character  of  the  priesthood  shown  by  comparing  it  with  "woman        .  .       63 

Education  the  great  function  of  the  priesthood  .  .  .  .64 
The  fusion  of  philosophy  and  poetry  will  aid  in  preserving  the  true  priestly 

character              .......  65 

The  priesthood  resumes  the  medical  of&ce      ...  6S 

An  universal  language  required          ....  .66 

Italian  is  the  fittest     .             .                          ....  67 

The  Practical  classes.     (1)  The  patriciate  the  basis  of  the  City         .  6T 

The  patriciate  the  seat  of  human  will             ....  68 

Will  requires  power    ...                          ...  68 

Hence  the  necessity  of  the  concentration  of  wealth   .             .             .  .69 

Internal  conditions     ...                          ...  69 

The  patrician  hierarchy                                     ....  7I> 

Four   divisions.     (1)   Agriculturists.      (2)  Manufacturers.     (3)  Merchants. 

(4)  Bankers          .......  71 

(2)  The  Proletariate  .             .             .             .             .             .             .  .71 

Its  homogeneity           .....                          .  72 

In  it  are  developed  the  general  features  of  Humanity              .             .  72 

Means  for  a  systematic  direction  of  the  power  of  numbers      .             .  73 

The  proletariate  must  restrain  its  personal  instincts  .             .             .  .73 

Its  external  conditions  .  .....       74 

Conclusion       ....'.                          .             .  75^ 


CHAPTER   II. 

GENERAL    VIEW     OF   THE    AEFBCIIVE    LIFE,    OE,   DEFrSflTIVE  SYS- 
lEMATIBAIION   OF   THE  POSITIVE   STSIElt   OF   WOKSHIP. 

Change  of  order.     The  worship  precedes  the  dogma  .             .             .  .76 

Eeasons  for  and  against  the  previous  arrangement                  .             .  76-77 

The  worship  the  expression  of  the  synthetical  state    .             .             .  .77 

Again,  the  affinity  between  Fetichism  and  Positivism             .             .  .78 

Superior  synthetic  power  of  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity           .             .  .78 

Eeligion  is  worship     ......  .78 

Prominence  of  the  Future  characteristic  of  the  normal  state  .             .  .79 

The  t-wo  arrangements  of  the  doctrine             .             .             .             .  .79- 

If  the  worship  did  not  precede  the  doctrine,  it  would  have  to  follow  the 

regime      .             .             .             .             ,             .             .             .  ■    .       80 

Destination  and  nature  of  the  worship.     The  sjTnpathetic  instincts  its  chief 

domain     .             .             .             .             .             ,             ,             .  .81 

It  exercises  all  man's  faculties            .            .            .            .            .  .81 

It  is  the  synthetic  idealisation  of  our  existence            .             .             .  .82 

Comparison  of  the  effects  of  expression  and  action    .            .            ,  .82 


THE  rOUETH  VOLUME. 


lix 


Moral  influenee  of  the  Positive  -vrorship  (1.)  on  altruism 

„  „  „  (II.)  on  egoism 

Its  intellectual  influence  (I.)  on  Ait  . 
Italian  as  tlie  language  of  worship 
(II.)  on  Science,     (a)  Method.     (6)  Doctrine 
(III.)  Its  influence  on  action,  -which  it  purifies 
The  worship  universal,  but  systematic  only  for  the  more  leading  phases  of 

human  existence  . 
The  sacred  sign 

General  Theory  of  the  subjective  life  . 
The  assimilation  of  other  existences    . 
The  wills  of  tlie  beings  incorporated  necessarily  extinct 
The  assimilated  existences 
Three  degrees  of  subjective  existence 
Laws  of  the  subjective  life 
Its  independence  of  physical  influences 
Superiority  of  the  subjective  state 

The  fusion  of  the  dead  with  the  living  more  affective  than  intellectual 
Limits  of  physical  independence 
The  idealisation  required 
Direct  exposition  of  the  ■wokship 
Tribute  to  Madame  de  Vaux  . 
Subdivisions  of  the  worship :  I.  Personal 
The  mother 
The  wife  and  daughter 
The  normal  state  of  these  three  types 
The  sister 

Deficiency  as  to  the  past.     Names 
Deficiency  as  to  the  future 

Our  immortality  extends  to  the  types  by  whose  aid  it  has  been  deserved 
The  immortality  of  women 
Guardian  angels 

Catholic  and  Mohammedan  precedents 
Pefvate  peatee.     Definition  of  prayer 
Divisions  of  the  morning  prayer 
Degree  of  subjectivity  in  prayer 
Oral  prayer     .... 
Daily  prayer  a  work  of  art 
Number  and  duration  of  daily  prayers 
Weekly  and  annual  worship  . 
Uniform  introduction  for  the  sake  of  continuity 
Vision  suspended        .... 
The  contemplation  of  the  death  of  those  we  invoke 
Influenee  of  the  private  culture.     Moral 
On  the  intellect  and  the  activity 
Domestic  -woeship.     Functions  of  the  head  of  the  family  and  the  mother 
Domestic  worship  consecrates  the  phases  of  family  life 
Previous  confusion  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  powers 
Eectified  by  Positivism  .  . 

The  priesthood  must  secure  freedom  . 
The  nine  sacraments  ;  six  for  women  , 

Those  already  administered     .... 


84 
84 
85 
86 
87 


89 


90 

9a 

91 
91 
92 
92 
93 
93 
94 
95 
95-142 
95 
96 
96 
97 
98 


99 
99 
99 
100 
lOO 
101 
101 
101 
102 
102 
102 
103 
104 
104 
104 
105 
105 
106 
107 
107 
107 
108 
109 
109 
109 


Ix 


CONTENTS  OF 


(I.)  Presentation.    Its  ceremonial 

(II.)  Initiation 

(III.)  Admission 

•(IV.)  Destination 

.(V.)  Marriage 

Monogamy  the  principal  result  of  Western  civilisation 

Interval  between  the  civil  and  the  religious  marriage 

The  vow  of  eternal  widowhood 

Dispensations  .... 

(VI.)  Maturity 
(VII.)  Eetirement      . 
(VIII.)  Transformation 
{IX.')  Incorporation    . 
Special  modifications  of  domestic  relations 
-Adoption  .... 

Wherein  lies  the  power  of  these  sacraments 

Public  woeship 

The  calendar.     What  is  a  date. 

The  week         .... 

The  mouth  and  the  year 

Lunar  and  solar  years.     Solar  year  adopted 

Division  of  the  year  into  thirteen  months.     Eeasons 

Apportionment  of  these  months 

The  Positive  era  and  the  names  of  the  months  not  fixed 

Idealisation  of  the  days  of  the  week 

•Concrete  nomenclature  of  the  week 

Abstract 

■Groups  of  years 

Direct  treatment  of  public  worship 

The  Festival  of  Humanity 

■The  other  four  festivals  of  the  first  month 

The  Festivals  of  the  second  month.     Marriage 

Those  of  the  third,  fourth   and  fifth  months.     The  Parental,  Filial,  and 

Fraternal  Eelations 
Those  of  the  sixth  month.     Domesticity 
The  next  three  months  dynamical 
Additional  Thursday  commemoration . 

The  commemoration  as  suitable  for  the  future  as  for  the  present 
The  historical  portion  of  the  cultus  definitive 
The  seventh  month.     Fetichism         ■ 
Spontaneous  Fetichism :  (I.)  Nomad :  (11.)  Sedentary 
Systematic :  (I.)  Sacerdotal  Astrolatry :  Festival  of  the  Sun 
(11.)  Military  Astrolatry.     Festival  of  Iron     , 
The  eiglith  month.     Polytheism         .  , 

(I.)  The  Theocracy.     Caste     .... 

(II.)  Intellectual  Polytheism :  (a)  esthetic,  (6)  scientific 
(III.)  Social  Polytheism         .... 

The  ninth  month.     Monotheism 

'(I.)  Theocratic  or  Judaic        .... 

(II.)  Catholic.  ..... 

The  Virgin      ...... 

■(III.)  Mohammedan.    Lepanto 


PAGE 

110 
110 
111 
111 
112 
112 
112 
113 
113 
113 
114 
114 
113 
115 
115 
116 
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116 
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118 
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122 

123 
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125 
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127 
127 
127 
128 
128 
128 
128 
129 
129 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME. 


Ixi 


(IV.)  Metaphysical      ...... 

The  thirty-three  festivals  of  the  historical  months 

The  comhination  of  Fetichism  and  Positivism 

The  last  four  months  ...... 

The  tenth  month.    The  moral  Providence.    "Women  . 

The  eleventh  month.     The  intellectual  Providence.     Tlie  Priesthood 

(I.)  Incomplete ;   (II.)  Preparatory  :  the  aspirant 

Festivals  of  art  and  science     ..... 

(III.)  Definitive  («)  secondary:  the  Vicar;  (i) final:  the  Priest 

The  twelfth  month.     The  material  Providence.     Patriciate    . 

(I.)  The  Bank.     (II.)   Commerce.     (III.)  Manufactures.     (IV.)  Agj-icul 

ture  ....... 

Festival  of  the  Knights  ..... 

The  thirteenth  month.     The  general  Providence.     Proletariate 

(I.)  Complete  or  active.     Festival  of  Inventors 

(II.)  The  affective.     (III.)  The  contemplative.     (IV.)  The  passive  Proleta 

riate         ....... 

Mendicity        ....  .  . 

Festival  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  .... 

Festival  of  all  the  Dead  .  .  .  . 

Festival  of  Holy  Women  in  Leap  year 

Eighty-one  festivals.     Their  relation  to  private  worship 

Temples  of  Humanity.     Their  situation 

Their  interior  ....... 

Artistic  adjuncts         ...... 

The  chapter  justifies  the  postponement  of  the  doctrine 

But  the  worship  needs  the  support  of  the  doctrine  and  regime 

Soeiolatrical  Table,  or  Conspectus  of  the  abstract  worship 


PAGE 

129 

13a 

130 
131 
131 
132 
132 
132- 
132 
132' 

133 
133 

1.34: 

134 

135 

135 

135 

136 

137 

137 

13S 

139 

139 

140- 

UO' 

HI 


CHAPTER  III, 


(JEiraEAL  VIEW  OP  THE  INIELLEOTFAL  EXISTENCE   OP  MAH",  KESTITfe 
ON   THE  EBlAirVB  CONCEPTION   OF   THE   OEDER   OF   THE   WOELD, 

OE 
DEFINITIVE   BXBTBMATISATIOK"   OE   THE   POSITIVE    DOCTEINE. 

The  intellect  must  he  exercised  under  the  impulse  of  feeling  , 

Disposition  with  which  we  enter  on  the  study  of  the  doctrine 

Hypothesis  as  to  the  order  of  the  world.     Suppose  it  to  cease 

The  hypothesis  involves  a  contradiction  even  if  limited  to  the  physical  laws 

Various  stages  of  the  Hypothesis 

The  heart  and  intellect  must  concur  for  synthesis 

So  the  worship  sanctions  the  dogmatic  system 

The  heart  rules,  the  intellect  advises  . 

Discipline  of  the  intellect 

Hitherto  inopportune  .... 

The  discipline  of  science  in  relation  to  the  will 

Public  opinion  °.  ,  .  . 

Hence  a  higher  sacredness  for  science 

Even  the  lower  sciences  have  a  moral  reaction 


142- 
142 
143 
144 
144 
145 
145 
146 
146 
147 
148 
148 
149 
149' 


Ixii 


CONTENTS  OF 


But  this  reaction  most  felt  in  the  higher  domains 
Relation  of  the  dogma  to  the  worship  most  dwelt  on  here 
■  General  nature  of  the  doctrine.     Science  must  be  abstract     . 
Relations  of  theory  and  practice  ..... 

Abstraction  sanctioned  but  with  precautions  .... 
Aids  for  abstraction  in  the  subjective  media  . 
The  universal  principles  on  which  the  doctrine  rests  . 

The  FIRST  PHILOSOPHT  ...... 

The  fifteen  laws.    I.  Law  of  the  simplest  Hypothesis 

II.  Law  of  Invariability  ..... 

III.  Law  of  Modificability    ...... 

The  distinctness  of  these  three  renders  an  absolute  synthesis  impossible 
Second  group.     IV.  Subordination  of  the  subjective  to  the  objective 

V.  Relation  of  the  image  to  the  impression 

VI.  One  image  must  prevail    . 

VII.  Law  of  intellectual  progress 

VIII.  Law  of  material  progress 

IX.  Law  of  moral  progress  . 
Harmony  of  the  second  group 
Third  group.     Objective 

X.  Law  of  persistence 

XI.  Law  of  compatible  action 
Xil.  Law  of  mutual  action     . 

XIII.  Subordination  of  motion  to  existence    . 

XIV.  Law  of  classification 

XV.  Law  of  continuity  ..... 
The  Fifteen  realise  the  wish  of  Bacon  for  a  '  prima  philosophia 
The  system  brought  to  bear  on  the  construction  of  the  Positive  Hierarchy  of 

phenomena  and  conceptions  ..... 

Synthetic  constitution  of  the  Hierarchy  .... 

All  phenomena  human  ...... 

Individual  preparation  needed  t(y  attain  this  synthesis 

The  study  of  the  higher  will  call  for  new  researches  in  the  lower  sciences 

in  both  cases  the  hierarchy  useful 
The  Positive  scale  appreciated  (I.)  scientifically  (II.)  logically 
The  supremacy  of  morals         ..... 

The  hierarchy  valuable  within  the  sphere  of  each  science 

The  concrete  hierarchy  ...... 

Here  again  the  hierarchical  principle  useful  for  subdivision   . 
The  First  Philosophy  in  its  full  sense 
Several  arrangements  of  the  analytical  dogmatic  system 
The  seven  aeeangements     ..... 

Two  binary  (a)  dogmatic.     Cosmology.     Sociology     . 

(5)  historical,  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy 
Two  ternary  (a)  Material,  Vital,  Human  order 

(5)  Physical,  Intellectual,  Moral  Laws    . 
Two  quaternary  (a)  Cosmology,  Biology,  Sociology,  Morals  . 
(i)  Three  couples  with  Morals  as  their  crown 
One  Quinary.     Mathematics,  Physics,  Biology,  Sociology,  Morals 
Remainder  of  the  chapter  elaborates  the  hierarchy  of  the  seven  sciences 
Each  essential  step  to  be  studied  separately  .... 

Invariability  of  laws  an  inductive  principle    . 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  Ixiii 

PAGE 

Bow  invariability  is  made  completely  general  .  .  .  .169 

■Chance  and  Destiny    .  .  .  •  .  .  .  .  i  gg 

Though  necessary,  the  study  of  the  seven  sciences  has  its  dangers       .  .170 

How  they  are  to  be  averted  (1)  during  the  period  of  education  .  .170 

(2)  during  active  life  .  .  .     170 

Intellectual  and  physical  laws  the  chief  object  of  our  abstract  initiation        .     171 
Study  of  each  science  limited  by  the  requirements  of  the  next  above  it  .     171 

•Such  study  sufficient  for  human  life,  allowing  for  incidental  researches  .     172 

Tendency  hitherto  to  accept  such  limitation    .....     172 
Positivism  systematises  this  instinct.     Difficulty  and  social  remedy  .  .     173 

Constant  tendency  to  specialisation  both  with  theoricians  and  practicians      .     173 
Synthetic  discipline  established  under  the  invocation  of  Humanity    .  .     1 74 

THE  SEVEN  PHiLosoPHicAi,  TREATISES  required  .  .  .  .     1 74 

The  sociological  treatise  may  issue  from  Vols.  II.  and  III.     .  .  .175 

Announcement  of  those  on  Mathematics  and  Morals  .  .  .  .175 

Cosmology  in  especial  requires  the  Subjective  Synthesis         .  .  .175 

Futility  of  any  objective  synthesis  sufficiently  recognised  to    allow    the 

human  point  of  view  to  prevail    .  .  .  .  .176 

The  Mathematical  Synthesis  in  one  volume    .  .  .  .  .176 

Its  composition,  title  and  object         ......     177 

The  higher  logical  processes,  though  not  derived  from  Mathematics,  may  be 

illustrated  by  them  .  .  .  .  .  .  .177 

All  the  logical  processes  found  in  Mathematics  ....     178 

The  Logic  of  Signs  and  Logic  of  Images,  both  developed  there         .  .178 

The  Logic  of  Feeling  requisite  .  .  .  .  .  .179 

Comte's  task  to  introduce  this  ;  accomplished  in  Synthhe  Subjective,  Vol.  I.  .     179 

(1)  Moral  reactions  of  mathematical  studies   .  ....     179 

(2)  Fusion  of  Fetichism  with  Positivism.     Its  results  in  these  studies       .     180 
Subjective  milieus        .  .  .  .  .  .  .181 

This  final  state  of  Mathematics  heralded  by  the  practice  of  the  higher  minds 

who  have  cultivated  them  simultaneously  with  the  lower  sciences  .     181 

The  principle  of  subjective  generality  will  annul  the  opposition  of  the  Alge- 
braists    ......  .  .     181 

The  simplicity  of  Mathematics  adapts  them  for  the  systematiaation  of  the 

Positive  Logic  .......     182 

nightly  placed  they  grow  in  dignity  and  originate  an  improvement  in  the  art 

of  thinking  ......  .182 

A  species  of  universal  Algebra  .  .  .  .  .182 

Completing  himian  language  .  .  .  183 

Scientific  influence  of  Mathematics  thus  renovated      ....     183 

■One  volume  sufficient .  .  .  .  .  •  .  .183 

This  appears  impossible  to  most,  till  done       .  .  .  .     1 84 

The  second  Volume.     The  Astronomical  Synthesis     .  .  .  .184 

Its  composition  similar  to  that  of  the  rest       .  .  .  .  .185 

Logical  aspects  of  Astronomy.    It  offers  ^the  best  type  of  observation,  the 

best  model  for  hypotheses  .  .  .  .  .  185 

It  limits  its  predecessor  most  satisfactorily     .  .  .  .  .185 

■Scientific  aspects  of  Astronomy.    It  presents  us  -with^mathematical  existence 

uncomplicated      ........     186 

Eelativity  marked  in  Astronomy         .  .  .  .  .  .186 

It  shows  that  a  subjective  unity  is  alone  possible        .  .  .186 

Its  bounds  the  solar  system     .  .  .  .  .  .  .186 


Mv  CONTENTS  OF 


PAGE- 

187 
188 
188 
189 


The  planets  which  influence  the  earth  taken  into  account 
Petichiam  and  Positivism  easily  fused  in  Astronomy . 
We  may,  with  precautions,  animate  the  heavenly  hodies 
Normal  destination  of  celestial  Mechanics  philosophical 
Volumes  III.  and  IV.  of  the  Abstract  Encyclopaedia  reserved  for  Comte's  suc- 
cessors    .........  190 

Volume  III.  Physics.    Its  constitution           .....  190 

Volume  IV.  Chemistry.     Its  constitution        .....  190 

Subjective  milieus  most  effective  in  the  Physico-Chemical  couple        .             .  191 

Volume  V.     Biology,  treated  more  fully          .....  f-dl 

Elimination  of  the  theory  of  unity  and  the  cerebral  synthesis .  .  .192 

So  reduced,  Biology  not  treated  disproportionately  to  Cosmology       .  .192 

The  introduction  to  the  biological  volume       .....  192 

Biology  but  the  preamble  to  the  study  of  Humanity,  hence  its  limits              .  193 

The  seven  chapters  of  the  volume  ;  I.,  II.,     Statical  ....  193 

I.  Anatomy.     II.  Taxonomy .                          .....  193 

III.,  IV".  Dynamical.     Ill-  Vegetal.     IV.  Animal  Life         .  .  .194 

V.  Law  of  hereditary  transmission      ....                          .  194 

VI.  Eelation  of  the  organism  to  the  environment      ....  194 

VII.  Vital  modificability         .  .  .  .  .  .  .194 

Synthetic  conclusion.     Logical  appreciation  of  Treatise          .                          .  194 

Scientific  appreciation              .......  195 

The  conclusion  a  preparation  for  the  treatise  on  Sociology      .             .             .  196 

Complementary  remarks         .               ......  196 

The  Law  of  Ternary  progression  added  in  the  first  chapter                 .             .  196 

The  second  chapter  reduced  to  the  organic  series  duly  contracted                   .  197 

Chapter  III.  The  mode  of  instituting  the  theory  of  vegetal  life  .  .  197 
Chapter  IV.     Biology  irrational  if  we  do  not  keep  to  the  human  point  of 

view                      .....                          .             .  197 

Chapter  V.     This  is  true  of  the  seventh  law  of  vitality  .  .  .198 

Chapter  VI.     The  subjective  point  of  view  to  be  adhered  to  in  the  theory  of 

organic  milieus    .  .  .  .  .  .  .198 

Chapter  VII.     Aptitude  for  modification  confined  to  assimilable  substances  .  198 

Dissection,  even  of  animals,  forbidden  the  priest  .  .  .  199 
Distinction  between  the  first  five  and  the  last  two  volumes  of  the  Abstract 

Encyclopaedia       ........  200 

The  two  binary  divisions  compared     ......  200 

Considered  with  reference  to  subjective  milieus           ....  201 

Separation  of  Sociology  and  Morals.     The  first  the   subject   of  the   sixth 

volume     .........  201 

Eeligious  introduction  and  synthetical  conclusion  of  this  volume        .  201-2' 

The  seven  chapters  of  the  Volume  on  Sociology          ....  202 

The  rest  of  this  third  chapter  devoted  to  Morals,  the  seventh  volume  of  the 

Abstract  Encyclopaedia     .......  203 

The  '  System  of  Positive  Morals '  or  '  Treatise  of  Universal  Education '  to 

occupy  two  volumes,  the  first  abstract     .....  203 

Eeligious  introduction              .......  204 

Supremacy  of  Morals  asserted  (a)  logically,  (6)  scientifically .  .  204 
The  double  relation — objective  and  subjective — ^most  manifest  in  the  two 

highest  sciences  ....                          ...  205 

Comte's  share  in  the  work  of  final  systematisation      ■             .             .             .  205 

The  seven  chapters  of  the  Treatise  on  Morals             ....  206 


THE  J-'OUETH  VOLUME.  Ixv 

PAQK 

Detail  on  the  fourth  chapter.     The  doctrine  of  vital  harmony  .  .     207 

The  main  point  to  systematise  the  subjective  theory  of  the  brain        .  .     207 

Determination  of  the  number  of  the  senses.     Eight  senses      .  .  .     207 

A  cerebral  ganglion  admitted  for  each  sense  .  .  .  .     208 

■  The  ganglia  of  touch,  muscvilation,  sight  and  hearing  .  .  .     208 

The  motor  functions.     Innervation     ......     208 

Spinal  cord      .........     209 

The  relation  of  the  principal  region  of  the  brain  to  the  body  .  .     209 

Intimate  connection  of  the  vessels  and  nerves  in  the  higher  organisms  .     210 

Further  specification  of  the  relation  between  the  organic  life  and  the  brain  .     210 
Limitation  to  the  three  instincts  of  conservation  .  .  .  .210 

Distinction  between  the  three  cases    .  .  .  .  .  .210 

The  nutritive  apparatus  directly  connected  only  with  the  instinct  of  nutri- 
tion .  .......     211 

We  must  not  forget  the  other  connections       .  .  .  .  .211 

Three  in  number,  they  suffice  to  explain  the  reactions  of  the  physical  and 

moral  constitution  of  man  .  .  .  .  .  .211 

The  Positive  theory  of  Dreams  .  .  .  .  .  .211 

Sleep  ..........     212 

Connection  of  the  vital  harmony  with  the  feminine  Utopia     .  .  .     212 

The  nervous  and  vascular  systems  more  developed  in  woman  .  .  .212 

She  is  the  best  type  of  the  relations  between  the  brain  and  the  body .  .212 

The  synthetic  conclusion  of  the  volume  on  Morals      .  .  .  .213 

The  regeneration  of  profane  science  (a)  Logically       ....     213 

This  result  expressed  in  the  incorporation  of  Fetichism  .  .  .     213 

(b)  Scientifically  ........     214 

Morals  derive  their  discipline  from  within      .  .  .  .  .214 

There  alone  is  the  conception  of  the  Universal  order  decisive  and  complete  .     215 
Physical  laws  gain  in  rationality  if  combined  with  moral        .  .  .215 

THE  THIBD  PHILOSOPHY  .......      216 

Connection  of  the  Concrete  with  the  Abstract  Encyclopaedia  .  .  .     216 

The  idea  of  such  connection  traceable  in  the  second  volume  of  the  System  of 

Morals     .........     216 

Education  the  first  of  the  arts  .  .  .  .  .  .216 

It  is  a  transition  to  the  other  special  arts,  which  require  coordination  216-7 

They  do  not  admit  coordination  in  detail         .  .  .  •  .217 

'  System  of  Positive  Industry,'  or   Treatise  of  the  aggregate  influence  of 

Humanity  upon  her  Planet  .  .  .  .  .  .217 

Object  of  this  third  Philosophy  .  .  .  .  .  .218 

Full  conception  of  the  Positive  Philosophy  given  by  the  chapter       .  .218 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GEITEEAL   VIEW   Oi'   MAS's   ACTIVE  EXISTENCE, 

OE 

DEFIlflTIVl;   STSIEMAIISATIO]Sr   OE   THE  POSIIITE   LIFE. 

Objectof  the  regime  to  combine  sympathy  with  synthesis       .  ,  ,     219 

Had  we  no  bodily  wants,  the  worship  sufficient  .  .  .  .219 

They  necessitate  a  more  complex  religion  ....     219 

VOL.  IV.  d 


Ixvi 


CONTENTS  OF 


PAGE 

Still,  oven  under  these  conditions,  sympathetic  unity  is  attainable     .             .  220 

The  regime  more  influential  in  this  respect  than  the  doctrine            .            .  220 

Hence  the  doctrine  must  be  subordinated  to  it             .             .             •             •  220 

Action  the  best  guarantee  of  unity      ......  221 

The  theoretical  power  must  systematise  the  regime    .  .  .  .221 

Hence  the  priesthood  must  be  dwelt  on          .             .             .             .             .  222 

Two  preliminary  cautions,  one  as  to  the  numbers  given,  the  second  as  to  the 

assumption  made             .......  222 

Constitution  of  the  priesthood.     Its  numbers  limited  .  .  .  .222 

Requirements  of  each  Positive  school              .....  223 

Twenty  thousand  priests  required  for  the  West          ....  223 

One  temple  for  ten  thousand  families  ......  223 

Mode  of  recruiting  the  Positive  Clergy            .....  223 

Artistic  and  scientific  pensioners         ......  224 

The  High  Priest  of  Humanity  .  .  .  .  .  .224 

His  seven  assistants     ........  225 

Ultimately  forty-nine  ........  225 

The  priestly  dress  reserved     .......  225 

Spiritual  concentration             .......  226 

The  dependence  and  ascendancy  of  the  priesthood      ....  226 

The  priests  to  derive  no  profit  from  their  writings     ....  227 

Nor  from  their  teaching          .......  227 

Teaching  to  be  free  outside  their  body            ....  227 

Educational  function  of  the  priesthood            .....  228 

The  object  of  the  Positive  education  ......  228 

Complete  preparatory  period  28  years              .....  228 

Education  proper  limited  to  21  years  ......  229 

Wider  sense  of  the  term          .......  229 

The  period  of  private  education  (1-14)        .....  229 

The  first  seven  years  most  decisive.     Moral  training.     The  worship  of  the 

mother     ......                          .             .  229 

Training  of  the  intelligence     .......  230 

The  second  seven  years.     Esthetic  training    .....  330 

The  universal  language.     Italian  predominant           ....  230 

Moral  training  in  second  period          .                          .             .             ■  231 
Intellectual     .......                          .231 

Polytheistic  character  of  this  period  need  not  survive  the  first  three  centuries 

of  the  normal  state           .......  231 

In  both  these  periods  some  industrial  training           ....  232 

The  child  to  be  taught  that  feelings  are  more  important  than  acts    .             .  232 

PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  (14-21).     Its  general  spirit        ....  232 

The  supremacy  of  the  heart    .......  232 

The  worship  therefore  must  institute  the  study  of  the  doctrine           .             .  233 

Each  professor  to  teach  the  seven  sciences  in  succession         .             .             .  233 

The  High  Priest  must  watch  against  intellectualism ....  234 

The  noviciate  moral  rather  than  intellectual  .....  234 

Demonstration  cultivated  for  submission         .....  234 

The  noviciate  must  teach  the  Positivist  to  subordinate  his  individual  to  the 

collective  intelligence       .......  234 

The  course  of  instruction.     The  nineteen  lectures  on  the  First  Philosophy     .  235 

The  seven  years  given  to  the  abstract  sciences.     Number  of  lectures               .  235 

The  theoretic  noviciate  and  industrial  apprenticeship  close  together              .  235 

Three  years  of  travel  ........  236 


THE  FOUETH  VOLUME. 


Ixvii 


PAOS 

lEffects  of  the  public  education            ...                        .            .  236 

Heading  discouraged  as  a  habit.     Useful  reading      ....  236 

The  Positivist  Library            .......  236 

Harmony  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  education  proper         .            .            .  237 

The  importance  of  the  last  year           ......  237 

The  two  phases  contrasted  socially     ......  238 

Disposition  developed  by  the  Positive  education         ....  238 

Submission  and  retention  of  principles,  not  of  their  details    .             .             .  239 

•Systematasation  of  active  life.    Preliminary  observations       .            .            .  239 

tistitution  of  a  religious  Utopia         ......  239 

A  condensation  necessary  to  a  synthesis          .....  239 

Precedent  in  the  Eucharist     .......  240 

Former  Utopias.     The  transmutation  of  metals         ....  240 

Biological  Utopia  as  announced  in  'Phil.  Pos.'  III.  p.  432     .            .            .  241 

The  theory  of  Utopias  complementary  to  that  of  religion                     .             .  241 

Inductive  considerations  on  the  Utopia  of  the  Virgin  Mother            .            .  242 

Subjective  considerations         .......  243 

Its  reaction  on  our  advance  in  aU  directions  (i.)  Personal     .            .            .  243 

(ii.)  Domestic ;  (iii.)  Civic     .......  244 

Were  this  Utopia  realised,  others  might  foUo-w          ....  245 

Direct  examination  of  the  Positive  Eegime     .....  245 

'The  functions  of  government.     Participation  of  the  two  powers         .  245 

Positive  Morality  always  social  under  all  its  forms    .             .             .  246 

(i.)  Personal  morality.     Physical  injunctions             ....  246 

Two  aspects  of  personal  existence  (i.)  Negative,  (ii.)  Positive           .             .  247 

Por  regulating  Purity  the  personal  instincts  grouped  in  three  couples            .  248 

(i.)  Negative  aspect.     Apparent  possibility  of  an  egoistic  synthesis  .             .  248 

Eejected  on  deeper  examination          ......  248 

The   part  played    by  the   instincts  of  self-preservation   and  benevolence 

respectively        ........  249 

1.  The  instinct  of  nutrition    .......  249 

The  two  social  grounds  for  the  discipline  of  this  instinct       .                          .  250 

No  ascetic  rules  to  be  applied  to  it     .             .             .             .             .             .  260 

2.  Sexual  instinct        ........  251 

3.  Instincts  of  destruction  and  construction  .....  252 

4.  Pride  and  Vanity  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .252 

■Concluding  remarks  on  the  negative  discipline           ....  253 

(ii.)  Positive  aspect.     Altrnism  the  great  regulator   ....  253 

(a)  Personal  existence  considered  in  respect  to  feeling            .             .             .  253 
"Then  to  intelligence   ........  254 

(b)  Domestic  existence            .......  254 

Preamble.     Two  modes  of  the  altruistic  synthesis      ....  254 

Home,  Greece,  Catholicism,  Modern  Times     .....  265 

Subordination  of  private  to  public  life             .....  256 

SystematisatioD  of  the  Family  by  the  Country  in  the  name  of  Humanity      .  256 

Three  groups  in  the  normal  Family    ......  256 

■  Seven  members  of  the  family  in  the  proletariate        ....  267 

"The  rich  and  the  clergy  need  auxiliaries         .....  257 

Jealousy  of  this  institution  overcome  by  Positive  religion      .             .             .  257 

The  family  thus  consists  of  ten  members  for  the  clergy          .            .            .  257 
Of  thirteen  for  the  patriciate .                          .             .             .             .             .258 

'The  domicile.     That  of  the  proletary  requires  seven  rooms     .             .             .  258 

d2 


Ixviii  CONTENTS  OF 

FAaB- 

The  Patricians  -will  come  to  see  their  duty  in  this  respect,  the  Plebeians  their 

claims     .........  269 

Houses  of  the  clergy  and  the  patriciate  .....  2S» 

Coordination  of  the  conceptions  relating  to  the  Family  .  .  .  259' 

The  two  statical  conceptions  of  it  as  the  basis  of  action,  or  the  source  of 

education,  must  be  combined       ......  259- 

Two  corrections  required  in  the  religious  theory  of  the  family  .  .  260- 

The   best  conception  of  the  two  gained  by  distinguishing  education  from 

instruction  ........  260- 

Veneration  the  principal  object,  here  the  mother's  influence  invaluable  .  260 

Her  intervention  necessary  after  marriage      .....  261 

Importance  of  the  elder  couple  .  .  .  .  .  .261' 

Theory  of  the  mother  completed  in  this  chapter         .  .  .  .261 

Position  of  the  head  of  the  family  in  reference  to  the  influence  of  women        261-2 

The  mother  the  image  of  the  country  .....  262 

No  evil  to  be  feared  from  the  wife  and  mother  living  together  .  .  262 

The  seven  conditions  required  for  the  religious  theory  of  the  family  .  263 

They  are  not  to  be  made  binding  by  law        .....  264 

Civil  marriage.     Not  a  mistaken  concession  to  the  temporal  power  .  .  264 

Useful  in  the  appreciation  of  the  relations  of  the  two  powers  .  .  264 

Legal  limits  for  the  age  of  marriage  ......  265 

Legal  measures  as  to  wills  and  adoptions  reserved     ....  265 

Theory  of  the  family  summed  up  in  its  normal  relations        .  .  .  266 

A  constant  progress  traceable  in  its  constitution        ,  .  .  266' 

A  sound  Utopia  should  be  an  anticipation      .       ,     .  .  .  .  266 

(c)  Civic  existence.     Preliminary  processes    .  .  .  .  267 

Decomposition  of  the  great  states  of  the  West  ....  267' 

Extent  of  the  Positive  Republics         ......  267" 

Moral    education    requires    an    intermediate    between    the    Family    and 

Humanity  ........  267 

Patriotism  political     ........  26r 

This  original  limit  first  passed  in  consequence  of  the  Roman  conquest  .  268 

No  exact  limit  of  the  Positive  nationalities     .....  268 

Political  motive  for  decomposition       ......  268 

Division  of  the  West  into  70  republics,  the  world  into  500     .  .  .  269 

Numbers  of  the  patriciate        .......  269 

Distribution  of  the  proletariate  ......  269 

Ratio  of  the  rural  to  the  town  proletariate     .  .  .  .  270> 

Distribution  of  the  latter        .  .  .  .  .  ,  .270 

The  type  of  the  average  provincial  capital     [.  .  .  .  270 

The  size  most  suited  to  our  modern  wants      .....  270 

The  patrician  families  are  to  the  plebeian  as  1  .  30  .  .  .  .  271 

The  capitalists  to  the  workmen  as  1     16         ,  .  .  .  .  271 

The  civic  regime  as  influenced  by  the  private  ....  271 

Under  the  Religion  of  Humanity  all  individual  conducthas  a  collective  bearing  271 

Our  life  as  citizens  influenced  by  our  guardian  angels  .  .  .  272 

Most  of  all  in  the  priesthood  .  .  .  .  .  272' 

The  still  greater  influence  of  domestic  upon  public  morality  .  .  272 

The  domestic  aids  the  civic  life  by  aifording  scope  for  tlie  action  of  the 

priestliood  on  the  individual        ......  273 

The  women,  as  the  Roman  matrons,  must  have  the  civic  feelings      .  .  273 

The  relations  of  one  family  with  others  attacli  it  to  the  city  .  .  274 

Influence  of  salons       ........  274 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  Ixix 


PAGE 
275 

275 
276 

277 


The  organs  of  putlic,  opinion  ....... 

'The  salons  of  the  priesthood  ....... 

'Of  the  Bankers,  of  the  Proletariate    ...... 

Eegnlation  of  the  gro-wth  of  population  required       .... 

There  are  indications  that  Positive  institutions  will  be  equal  to  this  diiEcult 

task         ...  .....     277 

-ludieation  as  to  (i.)  Number,  (ii.)  Quality       .....     278 

In  what  consists  the  difficulty  of  the  Problem  ....     278 

Two  general  solutions  offered  by  Positivism  :  (a)  The  Utopia  .  279 

(6)  Chaste  marriage.     This  negative  but  useful  .  .  •        279 

Intervention  of  the  priesthood  in  both  cases  .....     280 

-Direct  treatment  of  public  life.    Its  fundamental  purpose      .  .  .     280 

The  military  regime  preserved  the  West  from  castes  .  .281 

Distinction  between  employers  and  workmen  .  .  .  .281 

The  bankers  need  the  impulse  of  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity  .  .     281 

Industrialism  most  favourable  to  social  life   .  .  .  .281 

Positivism  favours  in  two  ways  the  transformation  of  industry  .  .     282 

The  task  requires  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity  .....     282 

Moral  advance  supreme  .......     282 

Activity  must  become  directly  altruistic         .....     283 

Hitherto  attempts  to  organise  industry  have  been  national    .  .  .283 

•Socialist  attempt  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .284 

The  supremacy  of  the  proletariate  of  all  nations  substituted  by  it  for  the 

supremacy  of  one  nation  ......     284 

Human  labour  must  keep  Humanity  in  view,  the  future  not  the  present        .     285 
We  must  work  consciously  for  posterity,  not  as  hitherto,  blindly       .  .     286 

The  aim  of  industrial  activity  ......     286 

The  general  conditions  of  industry,  moral       .....     287 

Devotion  and  Veneration  the  two  pillars  of  the  social  fabric .  .  .     287  , 

How  the  regime  encourages  them       ......     288 

The  patriciate  has  the  function  of  will  .....     288 

The  organisation  of  the  true  Providence  mainly  depends  on  the  patriciate     .     288 
Positivist  estimate  of  the  vices  incident  to  wealth      ....     289 

Avarice  preferred  to  prodigality         ......     289 

Pride  more  excusable  than  vanity       ......     290 

Ambition  to  be  checked  in  the  proletariate     .....     290 

The  patriciate  as  condensed  as  possible  .....     290 

Eule  of  inheritance     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  291 

.Strikes  .........     291 

The  priesthood  appeals  to  conscience  and  public  opinion        .  .  .291 

Pinal  resource,  excommunication        .  .  .  .  .  .291 

Power  given  by  the  Sacrament  of  Incorporation         ....     292 

Precautions  against  the  abuse  of  capital         .....     292 

Industrial  chivalry      ........     293 

Precautions  against  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  priesthood         .  .  .     294 

Junctions  of  the  industrial  classes.     The  directors     ....     294 

Private  maintenance  ........     295 

■Ownership  of  the  domicile  diiierent  in  town  and  country       .  .  .     295 

Beneficial  effects  of  such  ownership    ......     296 

Its  religious  effect       ........     296 

Annual  expenditure  of  each  proletary  family  .  .  .  .296 

Wages  .........     296 

A  fixed  portion  ;  a  variable  portion.     Inequalities  tend  to  disappear  .     297 


Ixx 


CONTENTS  OF 


"Wages  intended  for  the  maintenance  of  the  proletariate,  as  the  agents  of 

Humanity            ........  29S 

Gratuitous  character  of  human  labour            .....  298. 

General  level  of  wages,  allowing  for  a  difference  in  town  and  country  299 

Modern  Utopias  on  wages  a  dim  anticipation  of  the  truth     .             .             .  299 

Peasibility  of  the  rate  indicated         .....             .  299 

Economy  of  the  Positivist  System       ......  30&- 

Public  expenditure  (i.)  Temporal      ......  300 

A  central  government  indispensable  ......  300 

The  supreme  Triumvirate        .  .  .  .  .  .  .301 

The  three  Ministers  of  Agriculture,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce    .             .  301 

Kelations  of  the  Triumvirate  to  the  proletariate         ....  302: 

Gratuitous  discharge  of  the  functions  of  government                           .             .  302 

Police  and  Civil  Service          ...                          ...  303- 

(ii.)  Spiritual  Expenditure.     The  Sacerdotal  Subsidy             .             .             .  303 

The  total  expenses  of  nutrition  to  be  met  by  the  patriciate   .             .             .  303- 

The  chief  function  of  the  banker        ....                          .  304 

The  part  of  the  proletariate  in  civic  life         ...                          .  304 

Favourable  situation  of  the  proletariate  morally         ....  30S- 

Its  great  power  to  be  felt  rather  than  put  forth         .             .  305 

General  oilice  of  the  proletariate        ......  306- 

The  salons  of  the  people          .......  306- 

Machinery  and  engineers        .             .                          ....  307 

Mendicants     .........  307 

They  are  under  the  protection  of  the  proletariate       .                          .             .  308 

Beggars — passive  proletaries  ....                        .            .  308 

Fraternity  between  the  Engineers  and  other  workmen           .             .             .  308 

Relations  between  States         .....                          .  309- 

Monopoly  prevented  by  the  Country  being  subordinated  to  Humanity           .  309 

The  priesthood  will  need  in  this  the  aid  of  the  bankers  and  proletariate        .  310 

The  peace  of  the  world — howpreserved         .....  310 

Uniformity  of  legislation,  of  weights  and  measures    ....  310 

Special  industrial  aptitudes  of  the  several  countries  .  .  .311 

The  relations  of  man  with  the  animals  .  .  .  .  .311 

Condition  of  his  voluntary  allies  to  be  ameliorated    ....  311 

Domesticated  animals :  (i.)  Those  which  serve  for  food         .  .  .312 

(ii.)  Those  which  give  us  active  aid   .  .  .  .  .  .312 

Animals  not  to  be  employed  when  inorganic  forces  will  do    .             .             .  312 

All  classes  must  cooperate  in  this  amelioration          ....  313- 

The  inorganic  world  not  left  out        .  .  .  .313 

Materials,  as  well  as  products,  are  to  be  respected     ....  314. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

PHILOSOPHICAL   ESTIMATE   OP   THE   PRESENT,   BY  TIMTrE   OP   THE 
COMBINATION   OP   THE  PtTTITBE   WITH  THE  PAST; 
WHENCE 
A   GENERAL   VIEW    OF  THE   LAST  PHASE   OP   THE  TRANSITION. 

Object  of  the  chapter,  the  acceptance  of  the  formula  of  the  Positive  Religion    315- 
Positivism  has  to  regulate  the  present,  and  by  overcoming  anareliy  will  win 

assent      .........     315. 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  kxi 


PAGE 


Examination  of  the  state  of  the  West  .  .  .  .  .316 

The  preparatory  eTolntion       .  .  .  .  .  .  .316 

The  peoples  which  wait  for  its  result  .  .  .  .  .317 

Fetichism  and  Theocracy  have  become  passive  .  .  .  .317 

Monotheism  in  its  two  forms  has  failed  .  .  .  .  .317 

The  "West  becomes  the  organ  of  renovation  by  virtue  of  its  triple  transition    317 
Difficulty  of  the  final  phase     .......     318 

The  revolutionary  tendency,  once  useful,  is  now  noxious        .  .  .318 

Thus  the  chief  task  is  to  regenerate  the  West  .  .  .  .319 

Discredit  of  the  Eevolutionary  party .  .  .  .  .  .319 

Hence  it  is  easy  for  Positivism  to  order  the  transition  .  .  .     320 

Appreciation  of  the  revolutionary  principle  of  private  judgment        .  .     320 

Its  results        .........     320 

The  wide  range  of  the  anarchy  .  .  .  .  .  .321 

Need  of  an  universal  doctrine  .  .  .  .  .  .321 

Feeling  must  be  introduced  as  the  complement  of  reason        .  .  321 

The  feelings  have  been  tampered  with  .....     322 

The  two  tasks  of  the  Positive  Religion :  To  make  Generality  prevail  over 

Speciality,  Sociality  over  Personality      .....     323 

The  order  of  transition  as  regards  the  Western  nations.    Reasons   .  .     323 

Paris  will  direct  the  final  transition  ......     324 

The  determination  of  the  transition  in  France  to  be  followed  by  that  which 

concerns  the  others  ....  .  .     324 

The  transition  in  France.     Prefatory  remarks  .  .  .     325 

The  same  influences  must  preside  over  the  introduction  of  the  normal  state 

as  rule  when  it  is  introduced      ......     326 

No  violence  to  be  used  in  establishing  Positivism       ....     325 

Attitude  of  its  priesthood       .......     326 

All  existing  authorities,  if  socially  useful,  to  be  sanctioned  .  .  .     326 

Special  application  of  these  dispositions  to  the  opening  of  the  transition       .     326 
Two  modes  of  cooperation       .......     327 

Conversion  not  necessary,  but  there  must  be  a  paramount  will  to  modify      .     327 
This  condition  to  a  certain  extent  satisfied  in  France  .  .  .     328 

Its  power  to  iuodify  without  converting,  a  valuable  privilege  of  Positivism  .     328 
The  two  bases  of  the  organic  transition.    The  Dictatorship  and  Spiritxial 

Liberty.  ........     329 

Fxcuse  for  the  non-recognition  of  this  condition  by  the  Dictator      .  .     330 

With  Positivism  the  Dictatorship  may  feel  secure     .  .  .  .331 

The  Liberty  opportune  .  .  .  .  .  .  .331 

Repression  of  it  more  adverse  to  order  than  to  progress         .  .  .331 

Its  conditions.  ........     331 

No  restrictions  on  the  Press   .......     332 

Extinction  of  Journalism.    Its  substitute,  the  Placard         .  .  .     332 

Occasional  pamphlets  .......     333 

Clubs.    Their  character         .......     333 

Suppression  of  the  budgets  of  Theology,  Metaphysics,  and  Science   .  .     333 

How  this  measure  should  be  carried  out        .....    334 

(i.)  In  regard  to  Theology.     The  opposition  of  Catholicism  .  .  .     335 

Attitude  of  Positivism  to  disestablished  Catholicism  .  .  .     335 

Attitude  of  the  dictatorial  government  to  Catholicism  .  .  .     336 

Attitude  towards  the  non-Catholic  monotheists  of  the  West .  .  .     336 

(ii.)  In  regard  to  Metaphysics.   Abolition  of  the  University  .  .     337 


Ixxii  CONTENTS  OF 

PAGE 

Colleges  and  Schools  ......••  337 

Primary  instruction    .....••■  338 

(iii.)  In  regard  to  Science.     Its  budget  the  most  corrupting .             .             .  338 

The  Academy  of  Sciences        ....                          .             •  339 

Pensions  to  artists,  savants,  and  learned  men    .         .                          .             •  339 

Abolition  of  copyright  after  restricting  it  to  seven  years                                  •  340 
The  author  to  have  the  control  of  his  work   .             .                          •             .340 

Object  of  the  measures  to  purify  the  Dictatorship      ....  341 

The  dictatorial  government  freed  from  parliamentary  forma              .             .  342 

A  purely  financial  assembly  alone  needed       .             .                          •             .  342 

The  triennial  election.     Modifications  of  universal  suffrage  .             •  342 

This  limitation  of  the  dictatorship  only  provisional .             .             .  343 

Formula  of  the  first  phase  of  the  transition    .....  343 

Necessity  of  the  adoption  of  the  Positivist  political  formula:   Order  and 

Progress  .....                          ...  344 

The  formula  of  the  bourgeoisie ;  Liberty  and  Order  ....  344 

The  Positivist  formula  satisfies  all  the  conditions      ....  344 

The  act  which  inaugurates  the  transition.  Retiim  of  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  345 

The  column  in  the  Place  Vendome.     Charlemagne     ....  345 

Efforts  of  the  priesthood  to  prepare  the  normal  state  by  the  glorification 

of  the  past         . .             .             .             .             .             .             .             .  345 

The  Positivist  Calendar          ...                          .             .             .  34(! 

Three  degrees  in  this  concrete  glorification  of  Humanity       .             .             .  346 

Chronological  order  of  the  types         ......  346 

Names  of  the  months  ......                          .  346 

The  Positive  era.     Provisional  era.  1789       .....  347 

Definitive  era,  1855    .                                      .....  347 

For  intellectual  purposes  the  monthly  and  weekly  types  suffice         .  347 

For  moral  the  daily  types  required     ......  348 

Supplementary  names              .......  348 

Insufficiency  of  the  concrete  worship .                                       .             .  349 

In  the  calendar  theoretical  and  practical  services  prevail  over  moral             .  349 

The  calendar  purely  provisional         .             .                          ...  350 

Two  provisions  required,  (1)  The  days  of  the  week  are  not  consecrated  to  the 

fundamental  ties .             .             .             .             ...             .             .  351 

(2)  All  reprobation  is  suppressed       .....  351 

The  Positivist  Library            .....                          .  Zf-l 

Provisionally  it  consists  of  150  volumes                      ....  352 

Later  modifications  of  calendar  and  library    .             .                                       .  352 

The  two  institutions  imply  the  judgment  of  the  dead              .             .  353 

The  worship  explained  during  the  first  phase             ....  354 

Mixed  marriages.     Two  conditions     .             .                          .                          .  354 

(1)  Conversion  of  the  woman  after  marriage  allowed,  not  of  the  man            .  354 

(2)  The  woman  must  accept  eternal  widowhood         ....  355 

In  any  case  the  mother  has  the  education  of  the  children      .             .             .  356 
Public  Worship.     The  Festival  of  Humanity              .             .             .             .356 

Festival  of  the  Virgin  Mother  .  .  .  .  .  .357 

A  final  elucidation  of  the  Utopia         ......  357 

Eise  of  the  cultus  of  the  Virgin,  and  decline  of  the  Eucharist            .  357 

This  indicates  the  tendency  to  the  Positive  Utopia     ....  358 

Positivism  realises  the  mediseval  Utopia  by  presenting  the  members  of  the 

human  family  as  issuing  from  a  spouseless  mother         .            .            .  368 


THE  FOTJETH  VOLUME. 


Ixxiii 


PAGE 

■Connection  of  the  phases  of  the  transition      .....  359 

The  intermediate  phase  more  like  the  first     .....  359 

The  final  phase            ........  360 

The  three  briefly  characterized            ......  360 

Second  Phase.     Three  measures  necessary      .....  360 

(1)  The  army  to  hecome  a  constabulary  or  gendarmerie        .  .  .361 
The  artillery  and  nayy            .             .             .             .             .             .             .361 

This  force  sufficient  for  external  order  .  .  .  .  .361 

Also  for  internal         ........  362 

Character  of  the  force             .......  362 

The  transformation  not  practicable  till  the  second  phase        .             .             .  363 

(2)  Abandonment  of  Algeria  .......  364 

(3)  Authorisation  of  Trades'  Unions  ......  365 

Two  institutions  (a)  political.     Decentralisation        ....  36.9 

Erance  to  be  divided  into  seventeen  states     .....  365 

■Schedule  of  the  seventeen  intendancies            .....  366 

-(6)  Religions.     The  moral  formula  adopted :  Live  for  others  .  366-7 

Developement  of  Positivism  during  second  phase       ....  367 

Establishment  of  abstract  fetes.     Festival  of  Machines          .                          .  367 

But  the  second  phase  mainly  concerns  the  doctrine    ....  368 

Causes  leading  to  a  regeneration  of  public  instruction            .             .             .  368 

Positive  schools  established  by  the  government           ....  368 

"There  must  be  no  monopoly    .......  369 

Experience  of  the  Polytechnic  School              .....  369 

Open  competition  for  the  public  service  so  far  as  the  lower  grade  is  concerned  369 

The  services  most  in  view  are  those  of  Justice,  Diplomacy,  Administration  .  370 

The  school  of  most  value  in  medicine              ....  371 

Measures  for  regenerating  the  medical  profession       ....  372 

Hospitals        .........  372 

Degrees  abolished  and  all  medical  corporations,  nurses  included        .             .  372 

General  organisation  of  the  Positive  Schools  .....  373 

•Open  to  all  the  Western  nations         ......  373 

All  will  be  able  to  utilise  their  final  certificate           ....  374 

The  languages  to  be  learnt     .......  374 

A  school  in  each  of  the  seventeen  governments           ....  374 

The  course  of  study    ........  375 

The  professors             .......  376 

The  examinations,  by  whom  conducted           .             .             .  376 

Lessons  in  art             ........  377 

Instruction  gratuitous,  care  most  requisite  in  admission        .             .             .  377 

Two  successive  tests,  one  of  admissibility,  one  of  admission  .             .             .  378 

•Cost  of  these  schools  ........  378 

Special  professional  training  .......  379 

The  Hospitals  may  be  utilised  for  clinical  instruction            .            .            .  379 

Practical  studies         ........  379 

The  Hospital  .........  379 

The  public  health  secure  under  the  Director-General  of  the  Positive  Schools  380 

Post-mortem  examinations      .......  380 

Superseded  by  a  better  education       ......  381 

The  other  careers.     Special  institutions          .....  381 

(ffi)  Technical.    Veterinary  school     .  .  .  .  .  .321 

Its  regimen    .........  382 


Ixxiv  CONTENTS  OF 


page:- 


(i)  Scientific.    School  of  Philology 88* 

(c)  Esthetic.    The  Theatre    .  .  .  .  .  •  .38a 

Its  constitution  .....••■     ^84 

The  second  phase  is  not,  any  more  than  the  first,  organic     .  .  .385 

The  successive  adoption  of  the  two  mottoes  offers  a  programme  rather  than 

a  solution  .....-••     385 

Scepticism  not  constructive    .....••     385 

General  insufficiency  of  the  two  phases  shown  .  ■  •  •     386 

The  moral  must  precede  the  political  renovation        ....     386 

Third  Phase.     The  government  becomes  Positivist,  the  governed  remaining 

sceptical  ......■•     387 

The  systematic  Triumvirate   ....••.     387 

It  guarantees  the  government  being  purely  practical ....     388 

Mutual   encroachments   of  the  two  powers  ended  by  the  division  of  the 

temporal  .....-•.     389 

Such  division  a  guarantee  of  peace  in  the  West  ....     389 

The  triumvirate  secures  the  political  ascendancy  of  Positivism  .  389 

As  also  the  independence  of  the  priesthood     .....     389 

The  dictator,  propria  motu,  instals  the  triumvirs        ....     390 

The  change  effected  by  modifying  the  ministerial  system       .  .     390 

Necessity  of  a  common  doctrine  as  the  basis  of  political  unity  .  .     391 

The  ministers  must  not  be  too  numerous        .....     391 

The  three  required,  condensing  the  existing  offices    ....     39i 

The  High  Priest  will  suggest  their  names     .....     393 

The  admission  of  a  proletary,  the  only  glaring  anomaly  in  the  preparatory 

government       ........     393 

It  will  extinguish  Demagogism,  and  tend  to  regenerate  the  patricians  .     394 

Personal  recommendation  of  fit  men  ......     394 

Not  possible  all  at  once  to  discontinue  election  .  .  .     395 

Its  mode        ........  395 

The  offices  to  be  held  on  good  behaviour        .  ...     395- 

Two  amendments  in  the  original  plan  with  their  origin         .  .  .     396 

Not  only  the  triumvirs,  but  all  really  political  functionaries  to  be  Positivists     396 
Narrowest  limits  of  this  obligation  to  29  Statesmen  ....     397 

Disgust  at  the  existing  scepticism       ......     398- 

On  the  conversion  of  the  statesmen  the  anomaly  which  exists  as  to  the  prac- 
tical virtues  will  disappear         ......     398 

Three  conclusive  instances  of  success  not  depending  on  numbers       .  .     398 

(1)  The  Economists;  (2)  The  Encyclopsedists;  (3)  The  Eepublicans  .     399 
Hence  there  is  no  fear  as  to  the  triumph  of  Positivism           .             .  .     399 
General  course  of  the  triumvirate.     (1)  Its  rule  of  conduct  .             .  .     399 
The  third  motto :  Live  without  concealment    .....     400 

Appreciation  of  its  bearing     .......     400 

Applicable  to  the  spiritual  domain,  its  chief  value  is  in  the  temporal  .     400' 

Its  application  in  detail  .......    401 

(2)  The  triumvirate's  chief  measure.     The  Intendancies  become  Eepublics  .     401. 
A  great  triumph  to  effect  this  peaceably        .....     402 

Necessity  of  the  change  .  ......     402. 

The  Catholicism  of  Paris        .  .  .  .  .  .  .403 

Paris  must  renounce  temporal  domination      .....     403 

American  independence  the  beginning  of  the  movement         .  .  .     403 

Extension  of  the  process  from  the  Colonies  to  Europe  .  .  .     403 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME. 


IxxT 


Such  extension  dimly  foreseen  at  the  beginning  of  the  French  Eevolntion 

Each  Intendancy  a  Eepublic  under  Triumvirs 

Political  and  religious  course  of  the  final  phase 

Political  advance  internally    ..... 

Extinction  of  the  Bourgeoisie  .... 

Of  Lawyers     ....... 

Begeneration  of  the  Positivist  portion  of  the  Bourgeoisie 
Freedom  of  bequest.    Adoption  .... 

Industrial  endowments  ..... 

Confiscation    ....... 

External  policy  of  the  Triumvirate     .... 

Independence  of  Corsica  and  the  French  Colonies 

Eolations  with  nations  external  to  the  West    . 

Eeligious  advance,  internally  ..... 

Consolidation  of  government  and  property ;   (1)  government 
Eespect  for  the  servants  of  government 

(2)  Property,  to  be  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  Humanity 
Struggle  with  Communism      ..... 

Different  in  town  and  country.     Urban  communism  . 
Eural  .  .  ..... 

Completion  of  the  abstract  worship 

Festivals  of  (1)  the  Press,  (2)  the  Post,  (3)  the  Police 

Of  the  seven  transitional  festivals  four  permanent 

External  influence  of  the  religious  policy 

Institution  of  chivalry  ..... 

The  provisional  committee      ..... 

Positive  committee      ...... 

Contrast  between  the  programme  here  given  and  the  first  sketch  in 

View'       ....... 

Modification  of  the  organic  transition  by  other  nations  of  the  West, 

extension  outside  ..... 

The  seven  decisive  steps  equally  applicable  to  the  whole  West 
Due  subordination  to  the  central  movement   . 
Italy.     Its  contribution ;   (1)  general 

(2)  Special.     The  Epic  of  Humanity .... 
Description  of  the  poem  .... 

Its  influence  on  the  universal  language 
Italy  allowed  the  second  place.     Order  of  the  others  disputed 
Spain.     Her  title  to  the  third  place    .... 
Spain  ranks  after  France  and  Italy 
Her  special  contribution.     The  Spanish  Clergy 
The  Spanish  Clergy  alone  capable  of  aiding  Positivism 
The  clergy  in  Spanish  America  .... 

They  will  welcome  the  Positivist  conception  of  marriage 
The  organic  transition  easy  in  the  Iberian  colonies    . 
England  ranks  above  Germany  .... 

Acceptance  of  the  Positive  Philosophy  in  England 
Special  contribution  of  England 

The  British  aristocracy  ..... 

If  competent  it  may  hold  its  power  without  interruption 
Previous  modifications  of  the  British  patriciate 
It  will  welcome  Positivism  when  victorious  over  Communism  in  France 


General 


and  its 


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415 
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Ixxvi  CONTENTS  OF 

PAGB 

But  it  must  be  on  the  alert  or  it  will  be  superseded  by  the  proletariate  and 

some  eueceseor  of  Cromwell         ....••  429 

Its  proper  foreign  policy.     Gibraltar               .                          .             •  *30 
The  United  States       ......                          .430 

Different  relations  of  North  and  South  America  to  the  Mother-country           .  431 
The  chief  difficulty  in  North  America  the  spiritual  change    .             .  431 
The  Anglo-Saxon  element  will  need  the  exceptional  intervention  of  the  pro- 
letariate .........  432 

■Germany,  connected  -with  England  through  Holland  and  Sweden       .             .  432 

By  itself  Germany  offers  great  difficulties        .....  433 

Opposition  of  the  Metaphysicians        ...                          .             .  433 

This  class  in  the  several  countries       ......  434 

Positivism  must  appeal  in  Germany  to  the  chiefs  and  the  masses                   .  434 

The  oppression  of  Italy  by  Germany  (1854)  .....  435 

Spiritually,  the  greatest  difficulty  the  worship  of  the  past                   .  433 

The  Calendar  scantly  welcomed  in  Germany                .                                       .  436 
Eventually  it  will  accept  the  concrete  and  has  a  special  aptitude  for  the 

abstract  worship                   ...                                       .             .  436 

A  festival  to  mark  the  close  of  the  transition .             .                          .             .  436 

Transfer  of  the  greatest  dead  to  Paris             .                         ...  437 

The  transition  in  the  rest  of  the  world ;  a  generation  sufficient          .  437 

Positivism  addresses  the  leading  minds           .....  438 

The  one  generation  that  is  to  seethe  conversion  of  the  chiefs             .             .  438 

Conversion  of  the  people  the  work  of  a  second  generation       .                          .  439 

Action  of  Paris            ......                          .  439 

Three  phases  of  the  general  transition,  as  of  the  Western                    .             .  439 

Three  steps  in  each  phase        ....                          .             .  440 

The  theory  of  Islam    ......                          .  440 

Kespective  parts  played  by  Islam  and  Eoman  Catholicism                  .             .  441 
The  Monotheism  of  Mohammed  addressed  the  governors,  that  of  St.  Paul  the 

governed ........  441 

Historical  relations  of  the  two  Monotheisms  .....  442 

Turkey.     Its  incorporation  with  the  "Western  system                           .             .  442 

The  general  transitition  to  begin  with  Turkey            .             .                          .  442 

Persia              ......                          .             .  443 

Eussia             ......                                       .  443 

Concluding  remarks  on  the  first  monotheistic  phase  .             .                          .  444 

The  second  phase.     Eegeneration  of  the  Polytheists  .             .                          .  445 

A  transitional  doctrine  required          ...                          .             .  445 

Indication  of  this  doctrine  ;  three  goddesses  .             .             ..            .             .  446 

This  concentration  sufficient  to  develope  all   the  philosophical  aptitude  of 

theology  .....                          ...  446 

This  systematic  Trinity  easily  superimposed  on  the  various  Polytheisms  447 

Their  classification  (a)  India.     The  Brahmins             .             .             .  447 

Positivism  will  begin  by  putting  an  end  to  British  domination           .             .  448 

Thus  the  speculative  race  throughout  subject  to  the  new  faith             .  448 

(J)  China.     The  active  race ;  Bouddhism      ...                          .  448 

In  China  Positivism  seconded  by  the  practical  wants                           .  449 

(c)  Japan        .........  449 

Complete  conversion  of  Polytheists     .....  450 

The  affective  race.     The  Fetichists     ....  450 

Their  conversion  considered  (I)  Philosophically          .             .                          .  450 


THE  FOTTETH  VOLUME.  Ixxvil 

PAGE 

(a)  Mentally  (i)  Morally        .......  45a 

(II)  Politically           ........  451 

Classification  of  the  Fetichists  (a)  Africa        .  .  .  .  .451 

(c)  The  third  term,  Oceania,  taken  next  to  Africa      ....  462 

(b)  America    .             .             .             .             .             .             .             .             .  453 

Modern  slavery  and  the  slave  trade    ......  45s. 

The  American  archipelago  to  be  given  up  to  the  descendants  of  the  American 

slaves      .........    453 

Conclusion      .........     454 

GENEEAl   CONCLUSION   OF   THE  FOURTH  VOLUME  .  .  .  455-460 

Object  of  the  volume  to  establish  the  relative  unity  ....  455. 

In  the  subjective  appreciation  of  the  volume  lies  its  value     .  .  .  455 

On  what  the  reality  of  the  positive  conception  of  the  future  depends  .  466 

Humanity  thus  directly  connected  with  the  universal  order   .  .  .  456  ■ 

The  result  intellectually  and  morally ......  457 

These  results  in  equal  conformity  with  the  principle  and  the  purpose  of  the 

Relative  Synthesis  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  468' 

The  volume  summed  up  in  the  inversion  of  the  doctrine  and  worship  .  459 

CONCLUSION   OF  THE   WHOLE  WORK        .....  460-472 

Connection  of  the  religious  construction  with  Madame  de  Vaux  .  .  460 

Conception  of  his  whole  career  ......  460 

The  two  phases  connected  by  the  obligation  to  complete  the  Positive  unity  .  461 
The  extension  of  Positivism  to  Morals  not  a  chance  result     .             .             .  461 
Social  destination  necessary  for  the  triumph  of  Positivism      .             .             .  462 
The  conviction  of  this  triumph  announced  in  the  Preface  to  the  Catechism   .  463 
Positivism  unites  the  best  attributes  of  Catholicism  and  Islam           .             .463- 
Positivism  prefers  synthetic  spiritualism  to  analytical   materialism,  retro- 
gression to  anarchy          ...                          ...  464 

It  will  relieve  the  chiefs  from  a  degrading  compliance  .  .  .  464 

The  political  leaders,  but  also  those  of  science  and  art  .  .  .  464 

In  the  troubled  medium  it  offers  a  rallying  point  to  all  the  higher  natures   .  464 
The  danger  of  presumption  met  by  the  religion           .             .             .             .466 

To  be  confident,  certain  conditions  must  be  fulfilled    ....  466 

How  Positivists  may  show  the  power  of  their  faith     ....  46& 

(1)  In  private  life,  (2)  in  public  life    ...  .  .  .  .  466 

The  '  Emancipated '     . 

The  personal  efforts  of  the  Positivists  to  hold  their  ascendancy  .  .  467 

Only  the  higher  natures  at  present  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  Positive 
faith         ...... 

The  classes  from  which  the  directing  body  will  be  drawn 
Not  from  the  literary  class     . 


"We  must  wait  for  true  adherents 
No  successor  as  yet 
Announcement  of  future  works 

THE   FINAL  INVOCATION 

Appendix,  The  Library 


.  469 
.  469 
.  470 
.  470 
.  471 
472-481 
483-486- 


GENERAL    T-iBLE    OF     SUBJECTS    Contained    in    the    system,    of    positive 

POLITY     ........  486-489' 


Ixxviii  CONTENTS  OF 


GENERAL  APPENDIX. 

-GENERAL  APPENDIX  TO  THE  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY, 

CONTAINING  AIL  THE  EAELT  ESSAYS  BY   THE  AUTHOK   IN    SOCIAt  PHILO 
SOPHY         .........      491 

Speciax  Preface       .....  493-496 

FIRST  PART. 

{July  1819.) 

SEPAEATION   OP   OPnnONS  PEOM  ASPTKATIONS. 

PiOE 
Positive  political  science  is  needed     .  .  .  497 

■Opinions  and  Aspirations  are  distinguishable  ....     497 

SECOND  PART. 
{April  1820.) 

A  BBTEP  ESTTMAIE   OF  MODERN   HISIOKT. 

Science  and  Industry  are  destined  to  replace  Theology  and  War       .  499 

Decline  of  the  Mediaeval  and  growth  of  the  Modem  social  systems  .  .     501 

Ftrst  Seetes. 

First  open  struggle  hetvreen  the  Old  and  New  society  in  the  sixteenth  century    502 
The  Religious  and  Political  revolutions  gradually  prepared  .  .  .     502 

Growth  of  the  Commons         ......  504 

Discovery  of  America,  Invention  of  Printing,  and  Copernican  Astronomy         605 
The  18th  century        ...'..  .506 

General  decline  of  the  Ancient  System  .  .  .  508 

Second  Series. 

The  new  society  based  on  Science  and  Industry  .  .  509 

Influence  of  Savans,  Artists  and  Artisans,   spontaneous  not  systematic ; 

social  not  political           .             •             .             .             .  .  511 

Temporal  progress  of  the  new  social  system  under  the  new  Leaders  .  514 

Spiritual  progress  of  the  new  social  system  under  the  new  Leaders  .  516 

Progress  of  the  People  in  reference  to  the  Temporal  Power .  .  519 

Progress  of  the  People  in  reference  to  the  Spiritual  Power  .  .  522 

Besum^  of  the  Second  Series  .       '     .                          .  .  524 

■General  Tf&Mm^  of  Both  Series  ...  .  525 

THIRD  PART. 

{Mmj  1822.) 

plan  of  the  soieniific  operations  necessap.t  foe 
reoeganisine  socieit. 

Inteoditoiion. 

"Our  Social  Anarchy  and  its  sources    .....  527 

Plan  of  reorganisation  misconceived  by  Rulers  and  the  People  .  .     528 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME.  Ixxix 

PAGE 

Errors  of  Eulers          ........  528 

Errors  of  the  People  ........  530 

Xiberty  of  Conscience  and  Sovereignty  of  the  People             .                        .  .531 

A  Constructiye  Doctrine  hoth  necessary  and  opportune        .            .            .  533 


General  View. 

■  Constitutions  do  not  supply  Social  Eeorganisation     ....  536 

Theory  and  Practice  must  be  separated         .....  537 

Plan  of  Social  Eeorganisation  ......  639 

Scientific  men  and  Industrial  chiefs  represent  the  new  Spiritual  and  Tem- 
poral organisation  .......  542 

Savants  must  render  Politics  scientific  .....  647 

Law  of  the  Three  States        .......  547 

Classification  of  the  Sciences .......  549 


FiEST  Series  op  "Works. 

The  Creation  of  Social  Science  demands  that  Observation  should  prepon- 
derate over  Imagination .......  551 

Social  organisation  is  determined  by  the  state  of  Civilisation  .  .  554 

The  growth  of  Civilisation  follows  Laws       .....  655 

The  science  of  Positive  Politics  is  essential  for  Social  Eeorganisation  .  558 

Scientific  Prevision  can  avert  or  mitigate  violent  Eevolutions  .  .  660 

The  Method  of  the  Science  of  Positive  Politics  ....  662 

Conflict  of  Social  Systems      .......  563 

Positive  Polity  must  be  based  on  Observation  but  propagated  by  the  aid  of 

Imagination         ......  .  666 

Eeview  of  the  chief  eiforts  to  found  Positive  Polity  .  .  .  .  668 

Montesquieu  .........  668 

Condorcet        .........  570 

Condorcet's  Classification  of  Epochs  erroneous  ....  571 

Law  of  the  Three  States  .......  672 

Mathematical  attempts  to  found  the  science  of  Positive  Polity — Condorcet .  577 

Physiology  and  the  science  of  Positive  Politics — Cabanis      .  .  .  581 

Social  Physics  a  science  based  on  the  direct  observation  of  the  collective 

developement  of  mankind  ......  585 

Social  Physics,  like  Physiology,  must  advance  from  the  general  to  the  par- 
ticular    .........  586 


FOUETH  PART.  . 

(Novembm- 1826.) 

PHTLOSOPHICAI   CONSIDERATIONS    ON   IKE   SCIENCES   AND  SAVANTS. 

The  Law  of  the  Three  States  ......     590 

The  Classification  of  the  Sciences      ...  .            .     597 

Social  Physics  needed  to  complete  the  Scientific  Series         .  .     598 

.  Social  Physics  hitherto  unattainable,  but  now  inevitable      .  .            .     600 


Ixxx 


CONTENTS  OF 


Social  Physics  the  indispensable  remedy  for  our  mental  and  moral  Anarchy      605 
The  Political  History  of  Savants  harmonises  Trith  the  Law  of  the  Three 

States      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .607 

The  Theocracies  ........    607 

Greece  .........     610- 

Eome  and  Catholicism  .  .  .  .  .  .  .611 

The  Middle  Ages         .....  .  .     612 

Modern  History  of  Science  and  Savants  .  .  .  .  .613- 

Positive  reorganisation  of  Savants      ....  .     614- 


FIFTH  PART. 
{March  1826.) 

CONSLDBRAIIOirS   OIT   THE   SPIEITITAI.   POWBK. 

Confusion  of  the  Spiritual  and  Temporal  Po"wers  in  Antiquity 

Separation  of  the  Spiritual  and  Temporal  Po-wers  initiated  in  the  Middle 


The  Modern  Bevolution  characterised  by  a  rejection  of  the  Division  between 
the  Spiritual  and  Temporal  Powers         ..... 

The  decline  of  the  Spiritual  Power  the  cause  of  International  Wars  in 
Europe     ......... 

Hence  also  flow  disorders  in  the  Internal  Organisation  of  each  People 

1.  Mental  Anarchy      ........ 

2.  Absence  of  Public  Morality  ...... 

3.  Social  Materialism  ....... 

4.  Bureaucracy  and  Corruption  ...... 

The  Spiritual  Reorganisation  must  adapt  itself  to  Modern  Society  . 
Education  the  chief  function  of  the  Spiritual  Power 

The  moral  union  of  Europe  and  Humanity  the  second  ofSce  of  the  Spiritual 
Power     .  .  ....... 

The  Spiritual  Power  must  regulate  Modern  Industry,  as  based  on  the 
Division  of  Labour  ....... 

National  and  European  functions  of  the  Spiritual  Power 

Scientific  Faith  the  true  basis  of  Activity     ..... 

Spiritual  Guidance  needed  for  personal  and  social  Morality  . 

Individual  freedom  resides  in  the  application  of  ascertained  principles 

The  Spiritual  Power  needed  for  Direction  as  well  as  Repression 

International  relations  need  the  guidance  of  the  Spiritual  Power 


61S 

618 

621 

622 
623 
623 
624 
625 
625 
628 
629 

631 

632 
635 
636 
636 
638 
641 
642 


THE  SIXTH  AND  LAST  PART. 
{August  1828.) 

EXAMDfATION   OP   BROTJSSAIs'    TKBAIISE   Olf   lEElrAIION". 

Physiology  has  only  lately  become  a  Positive  Science  .  .  .  645 

Cabanis  and  Gall  on  mental  and  moral  phenomena    ....  645 

Futility  of  the  so-called  method  of  Internal  Observation       .  .  .  646 

Positive  Pathology  based  on  General  Anatomy.     Bichat  and  Broussais        .  649 

Application  of  Positive  Pathology  to  the  theory  and  treatment  of  Madness  651 

I  Index  to  thi!  Four  Volumes  .....  655 


SYSTEM 


OF 


POSITIVE    POLITY. 


SYNTHETICAL   VIEW  OF  THE  FUTUBE   OF  MAN. 


GENERAL  INTEODUCTION". 
In  the  two  preceding  volumes  I  have  explained,  in  Vol.  II,  General  cha- 

■*■  -.  .        .         ,  .  racter  of  the 

what   the   human   order   is   m   its   primary   constituents ;    in  ™iume.  The 

■^  ■'  '  fusion  of 

Vol.  III.  what  has  been  the   course  which  its  developement,  statical  and 

■•■  dynamical 

broadly  considered,  has   necessarily  taken.     On    the  basis  of  sociology 

1       •  1  r  forthepur- 

these  two  explanations,  my  task  in  this  fourth  volume  is  to  poses  oi  reii- 

gion. , 

construct,  once  for  all,  the  stand-point  from  which  true  wisdom 
may  embrace  the  whole  range  of  human  thought  and  action, 
combiniBg  for  this  purpose,  as  a  last  step,  in  Morals  the  two 
correlative  aspects  which  scierice  was  obliged  to  keep  pro- 
visionally distinct.  But  if  Philosophy  requires  that  they  should 
be  appreciated  in  succession,  not  less  does  Eeligion  require  that 
they  should  be  habitually  united,  as  so  only  can  they  guide  our 
active  Kfe,  whether  private  or  public. 

The  fusion  finds  its  natural  place  in  this  concluding  volume,  inteiieotu- 
as  throughout  it,  in  order  to  determine  man's  future,  I  have  siderei' 
to  bring  into  continuous  connection  the  statical  and  dynamical 
inquiries  hitherto  carried  on  in  succession.  In  every  conception 
of  that  future,  we  must  in  fact  respect  equally  the  general  laws 
of  man's  constitution,  and  the  great  leading  series  of  his  an- 
tecedents. Lose  sight  of  these  two  constant  conditions,  and. 
prevision  in  Sociology  would  be  inevitably  defective  either  in 
coherence  or  in  precision,  and  as  such  inadequate  to  fulfil  its 

VOL.  IV.  B 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUBE  OE  MAN. 


Prevision  as 
admissible  in 


The  fusion 
cansirlpred 
religiously. 


practical  purpose.  When  we  undertake,  as  ray  eminent  pre- 
cursor Condorcet  undertook,  to  base  political  science  on  history, 
our  judgment  of  the  past  must  be  so  far  reduced  to  system  as 
to  enable  it  to  reveal  the  future.  The  continuity  this  implies 
requires  as  the  condition  of  its  attainment  that  man's  progress 
never  represent  aught  but  the  developement  of  an  unchangeable 
order ;  the  previous  study  of  this  order  consequently  presides 
over  all  historical  explanations.  But  conversely,  by  a  judicious 
fusion  of  the  two  points  of  view,  we  may  judge  the  future  with 
as  much  certainty  as  the  past,  so  irresistible  is  the  conviction 
inspired  by  a  satisfactory  agreement  between  our  statical  con- 
ceptions and  our  historical  judgments ;  and  it  is  in  this  ultimate 
determination  of  the  future  that  we  see  on  the  one  hand  the 
principal  aim  of  the  two  branches  of  Sociology,  on  the  other  the 
conclusive  test  of  their  reality. 

"We  are  in  no  way  bound  to  discuss  the  prejudices  by  which, 
on  empirical  grounds,  the  process  is  rejected  as  inapplicable  in 
social  matters,  though  there  is  an  unanimous  recognition  of  its 
admissibility  in  the  case  of  all  other  phenomena.  The  incon- 
sistency only  proves  the  non-extension  as  yet  of  the  Positive 
spirit  to  the  most  complex  order  of  events.  The  true  cha- 
racteristic of  science  in  all  cases  is  prevision,  as  its  object  at 
once  and  its  test,  at  least  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  recognise  the 
subjection  of  all  phenomena  to  invariable  laws.  This  theoretical 
conclusion  holds  good  in  Sociology  more  than  in  any  other 
science,  as  its  phenomena  are  at  once  the  most  important  and 
the  most  modifiable.  Hence  it  was  that  Condorcet  was  led  to 
conclude  his  sketch  of  the  past  with  an  outline  of  the  future, 
and  the  failure  of  my  spiritual  father  was  solely  due  to  the 
absence  of  a  systematic  view  of  history. 

From  the  religious  point  of  view,  the  definitive  combination 
of  the  two  previous  volumes  which  this  volume  is  intended' to 
form,  consists  in  the  giving  full  effect  to  the  supremacy  in/the 
scale  of  the  sciences  of  Morals  over  Sociology  properly  so  called, 
in  obedience  to  the  principle  established  in  Vol.  II.  Ch.  I. ,  Jn 
fact,  any  really  systematic  guidance  of  man,  even  in  his  priyiate 
conduct,  is  impossible  without  a  certain  determination  of  the 
future.  This  future  depends  in  some  degree  on  our  own  efifofts, 
and  therefore  can  never  admit  as  exact  a  judgment  as  the  past. 
But  over  and  above  the  inutility  of  such  exactness  under  this 
condition,  to  be  efficacious  our  interference  must  adapt  itself 


GENEEAL  INTRODUCTION,  3 

always  on  one  side  to  our  nature  which  is  unchangeable,  on  the 
other  to  the  developement  of  that  nature  through  successive 
ages.  It  follows  that  Morals,  and  this  is  true  even  of  practical 
morality,  are  objectively  dependent  on  Sociology — on  statical 
(Sociology  in  the  first  place,  then  on  dynamical — as  determining 
the  primary  direction  of  all  our  tendencies  without  exception. 
If  our  advance  is  to  be  really  positive  in  its  character,  it  must 
rest  on  the  theory  of  order  and  of  progress  equally,  the  one  in- 
dispensable as  .  a  security  against  caprice,  the  other  necessary 
to  ensure  relativity,  Without  the  theory  of  order  the  in^ 
adequacy  of  our  conviction  of  the  prevailing  unity  would 
expose  us  to  indefinite  oscillations;  without  that  of  progress 
we  should  have  for  guidance  nothing  but  inapplicable  or  vagiie 
precepts  in  default  of  any  particular  adaptation  to  the  given 
situation. 

To  ensure  the  final  and  complete  fusion  of  the  two  aspects  Dynamical 
of  Sociology,  its  dynamical  must,  whilst  retaining  their  own  ordinatodto 
proper  character,  be  kept  in  constant  subordination  to  its  cepkons. 
statical  conceptions.  The  necessary  and  systematic  elimination 
of  time  in  these  latter  in  no  way  impairs  their  reality,  either 
from  the  scientific,  or  even  the  practical  point  of  view.  The 
paramount  importance  we  justly  attach  to  them  is  due  to  this, 
that  from  them  we  draw  directly  our  conception  of  that  fun- 
damental imity  towards  which  our  nature,  individual  and  social, 
more  and  more  is  tending.  In  imagination  we  often  mix  up 
all  the  ages  in  order  to  place  more  vividly  before  us  the  perma- 
nent conditions  of  existence,  witness  in  particular  the  greatest  of 
all  epic  poems,  the  '  Divina  Commedia.'  The  general  supremacy 
thus  accorded  to  Statical  Sociology  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to 
it  when  dealing,  as  in  this  volume  we  deal,  with  the  future,  for 
in  that  future  we  have  man  in  his  maturity,  whereas  in  the 
past  we  see  merely  the  gradual  and  preparatory  evolution  of 
the  type. 

Although,  however,  as  science  or  as  art.  Morals  must  Thehistori- 
always  be  statical  rather  than  dynaniical,  yet  if  they  are  to  everpnBent. 
be  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term  Positive,  there  must  be  a  large 
admixture  of  the  historical  spirit  and  feeling.  If  deficient  in 
this  respect,  they  would  fall  short  of  the  relativity  indispensable 
to  the  reality  of  all  our  conceptions,  but  nowhere  so  indispen- 
sable as  in  the  immediate  systematic  direction  of  our  conduct. 
Individual  existence,  as  national,  is  so  influenced  by  the  situa-i 

B  2 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  dynami- 
cal apprecia- 
tion as 
presented  in 
tins  volume. 


Completion 
of  the 

method  and 
the  doctrine. 


tion  resulting  from  its  history,  that  to  regulate  it  as  a  whole 
we  have  always  to  modify  the  general  conceptions  of  human 
unity  by  taking  into  account  the  actual  stage  of  its  develope- 
ment.  In  no  other  way  can  we  form  the  manners  and  habits 
appropriate  to  each  period,  avoiding  aberrations  traceable  to 
misconceptions  of  the  difference  of  times,  such  aberrations 
being  either  the  simple  result  of  routine,  or  due  to  a  false 
system.  Hence  it  is  that  history  remains  barren,  nay,  often 
becomes  misleading,  for  we  see  in  it  a  mass  of  examples  instead 
of  looking  for  a  series  of  preparations,  in  the  inter-dependence 
of  which  lies  their  real  utility. 

In  the  preceding  volume  the  dynamical  conception  is 
always  so  presented  as  to  form  the  complement  of  the  statical, 
on  which  it  rests  as  its  basis  ;  each  period,  that  is,  is  regarded 
as  intended  more  fully  to  embody  the  type  common  to  all,  the 
type  gradually,  tliough  imperfectly,  evolved  by  its  predecessors. 
I  have  now  to  carry  on  the  succession  of  the  ages — the  filiation 
of  man — so  far  as  to  determine  the  normal  state,  the  advent 
of  which  is  shown  by  the  whole  past  to  be  at  hand.  Direct 
observation  is  here  unattainable,  but  as  a  compensation  we 
have  the  more  complete  predominance  of  statical  ideas,  and 
the  more  extensive  series  of  historical  judgments.  To  guard 
against  illusion,  in  every  step  of  our  argument  we  have  but  to 
see  that  we  are  in  entire  accordance  on  the  one  hand  with  the 
nature  of  man,  on  the  other  with  the  sum  of  his  antecedents. 
Thus  doubly  checked,  we  may,  in  regard  to  the  future,  arrive 
at  conclusions  as  demonstrable  as,  though  less  exact  than,  the 
conclusions  reached  in  regard  to  past  periods ;  the  investi- 
gation of  which  could  not  be  of  equal  logical  value  from  the 
want  of  a  sufficient  field  for  observation. 

In  accordance  with  the  object  of  this  concluding  volume, 
its  task  is  to  complete  the  Positive  doctrine  and  method  by 
subjecting  them,  as  it  does  quite  naturally,  to  a  treatment 
hitherto  inadmissible,  and  yet  the  only  one  which  can  establish 
a  satisfactory  agreement  between  theory  and  practice.  In  it 
the  judicious  combination  of  statical  and  dynamical  Sociology 
will  define  the  legitimate  position  of  time  in  the  sum  total  of 
human  conceptions.  In  it  Morals  will  take  their  place  at  the 
head  of  the  encyclopaedic  hierarchy  as  a  direct  consequence  of 
the  normal  convergence  of  all  positive  theories  towards  the 
regfulation  of  the  conduct  of  nations  and  individuals. 


GENERAL  INTEODTJCTION.  5 

,  This,  the  definitive  constitution  of  the  human  Synthesis,  may  The  presi- 
•with  advantage   be  condensed  in  a  form  suggested  by  its  in-  raisTcoords' 
evitable  agreement  with  the  constitution  of  the  human  brain,  cerebmi^con- 
Whilst  ever  asserting  the  complete  supremacy  of  feeling,  I  have  man. 
been  compelled  hitherto  to  concentrate  the  attention  mainly 
on  intellect  and  action   as   the  dominant   sociological  forces. 
But  with  the  growth  of  these  beyond  dispute,  comes  the  period 
for  their  taking  their  true  place  in   the   human  system,    an 
ultimate   destination  which   leads  to  the  explicit  recognition 
of  the  preponderance  of  feeling  as  the  independent  domain  of 
morals. 

After  indicating  the  general  character  of  this  fourth  volume  The  object 

~^  ,  and  connec- 

as  devoted  to  the  direct  construction  of  the  Positive  religion,  tion  of  the 

°  five  chapters 

a  statement  of  the  obiect  and  connection  of  its  five  chapters  is  of  the 
required  for  the  completeness  of  this  introduction. 


volume. 


Taken  together,  their  ultimate  object  is  to  lay  the  foundations  General  ob- 
for  a  policy  capable  of  directing  on  system  the  unsystematic 
advance  of  each  people  towards  the  normal  state,  the  time  for 
whicih,  as  I  have  shown,  is  come.  But  the  direct  construction  of 
this  policy  miist  be  reserved  for  the  last  chapter,  as  it  requires 
for  its  basis  a  sketch  of  the  human  order  more  complete  at 
once,  and  more  exact  than  the  primary  outline  drawn  in  our 
social  statics.  In  its  larger  half  the  volume  deals  with  this 
capital  operation,  an  operation  which  is  of  itself  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  state  it  describes  ;  for  what  is  the  maturity  of  the 
race  but  its  hitherto  spontaneous  action  reduced  to  system  ? 
A  satisfactory  conception  of  the  general  future  of  Humanity 
thus  attained,  the  proximate  phase  of  that  future  will  become 
quite  intelligible,  and  as  such  will  make  it  clear  what  in  detail 
is  to  be  the  course  of  the  transitional  period  of  organisation. 

Examine  these  two  consecutive  operations,  and  it  will 
appear  that  the  essence  of  the  one  is  the  exposition  of  the 
definitive  religion,  of  the  other  its  application  in  the  present. 
So  real  and  so  complete  is  the  Positive  synthesis,  that  its  true 
exposition  involves  the  definite  presentation  of  the  adult  age 
of  Humanity,  just  as  the  indispensable  preparation  for  that  syn- 
thesis represents  its  age  of  initiation. 

For  a  satisfactory  exposition  of  the  religion  of  Humanity,  The  objects 
the  guide  of  our  maturitv  under  all  aspects,  we  need  first  to  ohapterssnc- 
grasp  it  as  a  whole,  then  to  survey  each  of  its  essential  con- 
stituents.    Hence    the   first    chapter    establishes   directly   the 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Belation  of 
Vol.  iv.  to 
tiie  precetl- 
ing  volumes. 


Effects  ol 
this  primacy 
of  morals. 


fundamental  theory  of  the  Great  Being,  and  as  a  consequence 
gives  a  general  view  of  man's  normal  existence.  Proceeding 
from  this  synthetical  basis,  we  have  in  the  second  chaptei* 
the  system  of  worship,  in  the  third  that  of  the  doctrine,  in  the 
fourth  that  of  the  life,  thus  regulating  the  three  elements  of  our 
nature,  feeling,  intellect,  and  activity.  Then  in  the  fifth  and 
last  chapter  we  intercalate  the  present  between  the  future  and 
the  past,  in  order  to  close  the  Western  Eevolution,  and  in  order 
to  avoid  its  recurrence  or  reproduction  in  the  rest  of  the  worldi 
So  the  volume  as  a  whole,  condensed  in  a  general  conclusion^ 
on  which  follows  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  work,  is  destined 
to  inaugurate  definitively  the  Positive  Eeligion  as  a  conse- 
quence of  its  direct  exposition  of  that  religion,  triumphantly 
applied  to  practice. 

Such  a  statement  is  for  the  present  suflBcient  to  produce 
the  sense  that  the  fourth  volume  is  adapted  to  fuse  and  to 
complete  the  leading  conceptions  of  the  three  others,  iu  ac- 
cordance with  the  spirit  of  the  '  General  View.'  Iq  it  my 
religious  construction  and  the  philosophy  on  which  it  rests 
as  its  foundation,  will  be  at  once  marked  off  from  one  another 
by  the  definitive  transfer  to  Morals  of  the  encyclopaedic  primacy 
originally  assigned  to  Sociology  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term. 
Sociocracy,  the  ultimate,  must  thus  be  brought  into  con- 
nection with  Theocracy,  the  initial  stage  of  the  race,  and  closes 
the  period  of  transition  which  separates  the  two,  a  period  of 
ever  deepening  revolution,  the  leading  characteristic  of  which 
has  been  the  gTowing  tendency  of  intellect  to  rebel  against 
feeling. 

The  paramount  position  thus  irreversibly  assigned  to  jMorals 
issues  in  the  subjection  of  man's  life  at  length  to  a  real  and 
complete  discipline,  a  discipline  in  constant  harmony  with  his 
true  wants.  The  relative  character  distinctive  of  that  dis- 
cipline does  not  make  it  less  regular ;  far  otherwise,  it  gives  it 
strength  and  vigour,  as  it  eliminates  caprice  as  well  as  all 
absolute  tendencies  by  allowing  for  the  just  influence  of  time, 
by  making,  that  is,  our  dynamical  conceptions  ultimately  react 
on  our  statical  principles.  Man's  emotional  nature  wears  an 
appearance  of  unchangeability,  but  this  is  but  an  appearance ;  it 
is  inevitably  subject  to  constant  modifications,  slower  it  may 
be,  but  as  regular  as  those  of  his  intellect  and  his  activity,  the 
progress  of  which  again,  it  should  be  remembered,  bears  upon 


(GENERAL  INTEO])trCTION/  7 

the  means  which  feeling  employs.  The  creation  of  Positive 
Ethics,  the  work  of  this  volume,  will  as  a  natural  consequence 
bring  into  relief  the  truth,  that  throughout  the  phenomena  of 
human  life,  equally  as  with  all  other  phenomena,  movement 
and  existence  are  radically  at  one.  The  natural  result  of 
making  the  emotional  nature  finally  paramount  will  be,  to  es- 
.tablish  a  complete  agreement  between  theory  and  practice,  as 
the  impulse  given  by  either  concurs  with  that  simultaneously 
derived  from  the  other,  both  together  aiding  us  in  our  system- 
atic conception  of  the  normal  state  and  the  last  phase  of  the 
transition.  The  indispensable  convergence  of  the  two  will 
appear  in  this  volume  to  be  a  necessary  deduction  from  our 
primary  principle,  that  in  all  cases  considerations  of  progress 
are  subordinate  to  those  of  order.  This  law  applies  equally  to 
the  art  and  science  of  Morals ;  we  have  only  to  extend  to  the 
improvements  of  our  own  creation  a  relation  originally  mani- 
fested in  changes  over  which  we  had  no  control. 

In  my  judgment  of  the  future  and  the  present,  I  need  not 
aim  at  a  greater  degree  of  exactness  than  that  attainable  in  the 
preceding  volumes  in  the  treatment  respectively  of  order  and 
progress.  Though  merely  approximative,  it  is  sufficient  for 
any  immediate  want*  When  succeeding  generations  come  to 
need  more  detailed  rules,  they  will  draw  them  from  moral 
science  by  the  aid  of  an  advance  in  sociological  science,  such 
advance  at  times  involving  a  corresponding  progress  in  Biology, 
perhaps  even  in  Cosmology. 


8        SYSTEM  OP  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  rUNDAMENTAL  THEORY,  THE  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING; 
WHENCE  A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  RACE  ADD 
OF   ITS   EXISTENCE    IN    THE    NORMAL    STATE. 

Special  In-    Its  foundations  laid  in  Social  Statics,  the  Positive  religion  has 

TUODUCTIONj  ITT  p-Tfc 

pp.  8-23.       already  irrevocably  taken  possession  of  the  Past  m  its  whole 
The  Priest-    range,  which  never  was  within  the  cognisance  of  the  earlier 

hood  of  Hu-  ,      ,       ,  1        .  i  ■,      ? 

maiiitymiist  and  absolute  synthesis.     As  a  sequel  of  this  decisive  step  the 

embrace  the  i  r»  tx  i  r» 

future  as       priesthood  of  Humanity  must  now  take  possession  of  the  J  uture 

well  as  the  J  i 

past.  also,  that  it  may  impart  to  the  Present  the  combined  impulse 

of  its  predecessors  and  its  successors.     It  will  then  have  com- 
pleted its  attributions  by  the  addition  of  a  new  and  equally 
characteristic  function — the  function    of  the  prophet — to  its 
primary  office  of  judge,  and  so  complete,  it  will  soon  overcome 
the  existing  anarchy,  unprecedented  though  it  be,  for  it  wiU 
bring  to  bear  on  that  object  in  permanent  combination  the 
whole  intellectual  and  moral  powers  of  man. 
Functions  oJ         The  Spiritual  power  of  the  West  in  its  three  social  attri- 
hood.^Test    butes    of  couusel,  consecration,  and  regulation  has  more  and 
tence."^"™'"'"  more  fallen  into  desuetude  since  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
by  virtue  of  the  gradual  downfall  of  the  provisional  beliefs. 
Eaised  to  new  life  by  the  definitive  belief,  its  future  course  will 
be  one  of  unceasing  and  efficient  action.     The  necessity  of  its 
revival  is  "now  submitted  to  the  most  unambiguous  of  tests, 
viz.  its  exclusive  competence  to  thoroughly  reconcile,  order  and 
progress. 
Difficulty  of  For  an  adequate  estimate  of  the  difficulty  of  this  task,  we 

ordSVith     must  place  ourselves  at  the  historical  point  of  view,  as  we  are 
shown  Ml-     enabled  to  do  by  the  preceding  volume.     The  past  is  divisible- 
onca  y.       ^^^^  ^^^  great  periods  :  the  one,  common  in  its  essential  features 
to  all  nations,  includes  Fetichism   and  Theocracy ;  the  other, 
peculiar  to  the  Western  nations,  effects  as  a  spontaneous  pro- 
cess the  transition  from  Theocracy  to  Sociocracy.     Now  the  two 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  9 

periods,  as  successive  stages  of  the  education  of  the  race,  repre- 
sent the  one,  order,  the  other,  progress ;  and  it  is  the  existing 
discord  between  order  and  progress  that  expresses  in  its  latest 
form  the  inevitable  opposition  of  the  East  and  the  West.  For 
the  order  compatible  with  man's  initiation,  taken  as  a  whole, 
was  really  alone  attained  under  the  theocratic  organisation,  in 
which  we  have  the  true  source  of  the  opinions  which  in  many 
respects  still  govern  the  Western  mind.  On  the  other  hand, 
all  the  progress  in  speculation,  in  action,  and  in  affection  made 
by  the  West  during  the  last  thirty  centuries  has  been  more  and 
more  revolutionary  in  its  character,  as  is  most  strikingly  shown 
in  the  system  of  election  and  the  impairment  of  the  sense  of 
continuity.  If  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  always  to  be 
taken  as  marking  the  beginning  of  the  Western  revolution,  it 
is  so  taken  only  because  that  is  the  epoch  at  which  the  move- 
ment passed  into  anarcliy,  on  the  exhaustion  of  Catholicism, 
the  latest  form  of  the  provisional  synthesis.  But  the  three 
partial  evolutions  which  succeeded  one  another  previously  had 
been  in  no  real  sense  organic,  save  as  regarded  one  particular 
aspect  of  our  nature,  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  other  two ;  none  of 
the  three  could  offer  the  peculiar  completeness  which  attached 
to  the  discipline  of  Theocracy. 

The  initiation  of  the  race,  then,  under  the  auspices  of  the  oscillation 
theological  synthesis,  first  establishes  order,  but  an  order  which  ord^Md 
has  an  increasing  tendency  to  become  retrograde,  sanctioning,  applrent  ie-° 
though  unable  to  attain,  entire  fixity  ;■  then  progress,  but  a 
progress  which  grew  more  and  more  revolutionary,  a  progress 
incompatible  with  unity.  It  was  not  till  the  latest  phase  of 
modern  anarchy  that  the  true  principle  of  the  movement  of 
society  could  take  a  definite  form  and  statement,  the  entire 
completion  of  the  training  process  being  the  necessary  condition 
of  such  statement.  Hence  its  first  proclamation  had  a  ten- 
dency to  sanction  an  indefinite  agitation  more  alien  to  human 
nature,  whether  in  the  individual  or  in  the  society,  than  the 
stagnation  of  Theocracy.  If  this  tendency  were  to  remain  un- 
checked, it  would  seem  that  in  the  future  the  two  necessities 
of  Humanity,  order  and  progress,  far  from  combining,  would 
but  stand  in  more  systematic  opposition,  and  so  there  would  be 
renewed,  in  an  aggravated  form,  the  spontaneous  divergence 
manifested  in  the  past.  Whilst  retrograde  theologians  are 
alarmed   at  the  thought  that   nothing  short  of  miracle   can 


10       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  PUTURE  OF  MAN, 


The  remedy 
to  be  found 
in  the  true 
picture  of 
the  luture. 


Affinity  of 
Positivism 
for  the  pre- 
vious re- 
gimes. 


prevent  the  entire  dissolution  of  society,  the  metaphysicians  who 
advocate  progress  justify  their  opponents'  alarm  by  their  aspi- 
rations, for  the  practical  issue  of  those  aspirations  would  be  the 
overthrow  of  all  the  institutions  on  which  society  ultimately 
rests. 

In  this  state  of  things,  to  calm  the  blind  anxiety  of  the 
former  whilst  correcting  the  vague  hopes  of  the  latter,  what  is 
needed  is  a  true  picture  of  the  future  of  Humanity.  The 
priesthood  of  Positivism,  connecting  directly  Sociocracy  and 
Theocracy,  will  represent  the  intervening  period  of  transition 
as  inevitable  in  the  West,  and  as  issuing  finally  in  the  modifi- 
cation and  completion  of  the  original  conception  of  order  by 
the  substitution  of  a  relative  for  an  absolute  order.  The  change 
is  indispensable,  and  in  no  way  implies  a  lower  estimate  of 
order ;  on  the  contrary,  it  consolidates  and  extends  the  power 
of  the  principle  of  organisation,  as  a  consequence  of  duly  suIh 
ordinating  movement  to  existence.  This  systematic  conception 
of  the  human  order  tends  to  make  it  more  complete  and  more 
stable,  as  more  in  conformity  with  our  whole  nature.  Un- 
questionably the  future  will  witness  no  retui-n  of  the  series,  of 
a  stagnant  order,  a  dispersive  transition,  and  as  the  latest  step 
in  such  transition,  an  oscillation  between  retrogression  and 
anarchy.  What  it  will  see  is  the  continuous  developement  of  a 
relative  synthesis,  such  developement,  even  when  the  result  of 
man's  conscious  efforts,  consisting  essentially  in  the  perfecting 
the  unity  which  constitutes  the  synthesis.  Whilst,  however, 
we  allow  for  systematic  modifications  of  order,  there  must  be 
none  of  the  abrupt  changes  which  were  fated  throughout  history 
to  be  the  distinctive  features  of  the  second  period  of  the  edu- 
cation of  mankind. 

The  great  task  of  the  manhood  of  the  race  being  the 
discipline  of  the  powers  developed  in  its  period  of  preparation^ 
there  is  a  natural  connection  between  our  ultimate  condition 
and  the  complete  series  of  its  antecedents.  Each  singly,  looked 
on  as  a  necessary  step  in  our  advance,  claims  and  deserves  our 
gratitude  and  veneration,  a  gratitude  and  veneration  which 
will  deepen  as  our  estimate  rises  of  the  peculiar  difiBculties 
attaching  to  an  evolution  which  had  no  guide  but  experience. 
Each  singly  offers  more  than  this,  it  offers  a  special  programme 
which,  transitory  in  its  original  form,  is  eternal  in  its  substance. 
Where  in  the  past  there  was  succession,  in  the  fiitm-e  there 


Chap.  I.J  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  11 

must  be  co-existence,  for  all  the  social  states  of  the  'past,  though 
apparently  contradictory,  answered  to  so  many  wants  or  ten- 
dencies of  human  nature,  and  as  such  must  be  susceptible 
of  harmony.  So  we  verify  the  complete  and  exclusive  com- 
petence of  the  Positive  religion  by  virtue  of  its  relative  cha- 
racter for  the  ultimate  regeneration  of  Humanity,  to  which 
all  our  aspirations  will  converge,  each  having  lost  the  peculiar 
features  which  for  the  time  placed  it  in  opposition  with  the 
others. 

This  afiBnity  of  Positivism  for  all  earlier  states,  an  affinity 
implied  in  its  idea,  has  been  already  conclusively  shown  in  the 
preceding  volume,  especially  in  reference  to  the  earliest  of  all, 
Fetichism.  But  the  full  expansion  of  the  idea  belongs  to  our 
general  survey  of  the  future,  for  no  religion  could  gain  uni- 
versal acceptance  in  that  future  unless  able  to  sanction  in  a 
certain  degree  the  various  tendencies  of  the  past. 

At  present  I  have  to   show  the   dependence  of  all  these  Authepro- 

^  ^  granimes 

programmes,  aU.  alike  unsystematic,  on  the  programme  of  the  subordinate 
theocratic  period,  the  Theocracy  alone  being  in  its  way  complete  *he  Theo- 
and  coherent. 

True  completeness   constitutes  the  main  value,  as  it  con-  complete- 

^  '  ness  the  test 

stitutes  the  great  difficulty  of  the  discipline  of  man ;  if  it  do  S-''""? 

o  J  r  '  discipline. 

not  extend  to  our  whole  nature,  it  must  ever  be  precarious  as 

well  as  inadequate.     For  thirty  centuries  the  priestly  castes  of  ^Jqv''"'"^^ 

China,  and  still  more  of  India,  have  been  watching  our  Western  i""!'"- 

transition  ;  to  them  it  must  appear  mere  agitation,  as  puerile 

as  it  is  tempestuous,  with  nothing  to  harmonise  its  dififerent 

phases  but    their    common   inroad   upon  unity.     But  on   the 

advent  of  Positivism,  they  will  soon  come  to  feel  that  the  series 

of  partial  evolutions   has   issued    in   the   most  complete   and 

most  stable  order,  offering  to  the  East  an   acceptable  union 

with  the  West,  the  concert  of  the  race  for  the  developement 

of  all  the  attributes  of  Humanity. 

In  its  systematic  constitution  of  this  ultimate  state,  the  Jf''t°]j™Theo- 
definitive  re-introduction  of  the  basic  formula  of  the  Theocracy  a^Sesby 
is  of  itself  conclusive  evidence  of  the  complete  agreement  of  sodocraoy. 
the  sociocratic  and  theocratic  priesthoods.     To  know  in  order 
to  improve,  the  motto  of  our  primeval  ancestors,  will  equally, 
with  our  remotest  posterity,  be  the  expression  habitually  used 
to  indicate  the  bounden  duty  of  the  intellect  to  devote  itself 
continuously  to  the  service  of  society.     The  intervening  period 


12       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUKE  OF  MAN. 

of  transition  from  one  to  the  other  regime  has  for  result  the 
perfecting  the  formula,  by  inserting  prevision  between  know- 
ledge and  action,  as  in  the  absence  of  this  link  the  agreement 
between  the  extremes  could  not  but  rest  on  merely  empirical 
grounds,  until  the  idea  of  law  triumphed  over  that  of  will. 
But  the  Western  mind  has  been  so  trained  by  its  more  recent 
education  to  look  upon  prevision  as  the  result  of  theory  and 
the  basis  of  action,  that  the  intermediate  term  may  be  sup- 
pressed in  the  formula,  provided  that  we  are  ever  ready  to 
replace  it.  By  this  adherence  to  its  original  form,  we  render 
it  more  apt  to  express  the  really  important  combination, 
making  it  a  better  definition  of  true  wisdom  without  diverting 
the  attention  in  ordinary  cases  to  a  progression  which  is  uni- 
versally admitted. 

To  appreciate  at  its  true  value  the  indispensable  harmony 
of  the  two  priesthoods,  we  must  extend  it  so  as  to  embrace 
their  instinctive  agreement  as  to  what  is  the  most  important 
sphere  of  man's  effort,  of  his  intellectual  no  less  than  his 
practical  effort.  Sociocracy  adopts  definitively  the  great  funda- 
mental tendency  of  Theocracy  to  claim  for  Morals  the  first 
place,  equally  as  science  and  as  art.  Whilst  the  theory  of 
human  nature  controls  both  in  method  and  doctrine  the  whole 
encyclopaedic  hierarchy,  this,  the  highest  branch  of  study,  is  in 
turn  controlled  by  the  directly  practical  nature  of  its  object. 
\  Naturally  then  the  ultimate  S3rnthesis  is  destined  to  con- 
solidate and  develope  the  initial  in  all  its  leading  featiures,  and 
it  will  enable  us  to  form  a  juster  estimate  of  the  merit  and 
difficulty  of  that  effort,  even  whilst  establishing  an  unity  of  a 
completer,  purer,  and  more  stable  kind. 
'Affinity  of  More  unmistakeable  still  is  the  natural  aflinity  of  Posi- 

with  the        tivism  for  the  characteristics  respectively  of  the  three  periods 
traneitioDs:    of  transition,  each  of  which,  succeeding  its  predecessor  by  a 
necessary  law,  was  the  direct  source  of  a  distinct  contribution 
to  the  solution  of  the  Western  problem. 
(1)  Greek.  Although    our    final   state   will  subordinate    the    intellect 

to  the  heiixt  more  wisely  than  any  other  could,  it  will  offer 
a  more  favourable  field  for  the  true  cultm-e  of  man's  mental 
powers  than  was  possible  under  the  undue  predominance  ac- 
corded to  the  intellect  in  the  Greek  evolution.  An  integral 
constituent  of  Positive  life,  as  the  normal  complement  of  happi- 
ness and  improvement,  art  will  evoke  purer  and  more  universal 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  13 

sympathies  than  it  could  do  when  there  was  a  tendency  to 
sacrifice  to  it  feeling  and  activity.  As  it  has  become  the  doctrinal 
basis  of  religion,  science,  no  longer  separable  from  philosophy, 
will,  as  disciplined  by  Soeiocracy,  enter  on  wider  fields,  and 
acquire  a  greater  power  than  it  could  acquire  under  the 
undisciplined  anarchy  which,  in  the  course  of  events,  replaced  the 
oppressive  yoke  of  Theocracy, 

In  the  future,  Humanity  will  stamp  with  a  special  sanction  (2)  Roman. 
the  two  characteristics  of  the  social  life  of  Kome :  its  decided 
preference  of  action  to  speculation,  and  its  constant  subor- 
dination of  private  to  public  life.  Drawing  out  the  naturally 
collective  character  of  human  activity,  so  long  of  necessity 
individual,  the  adult  age  of  the  race  will  embody  firmly  both 
these  conditions,  which  have  lost  but  too  much  during  its 
adolescence,  from  the  inability  of  Catholicism  to  accept  them. 
Whilst  deeply  conscious  of  the  superiority  of  the  industrial  to 
the  military  life,  Positivist  nations  will  ever  recognise  that 
war  had  great  moral  and  political  utility  as  a  preparation, 
being  as  it  was  the  only  spontaneous  type  of  temporal  organi- 
sation. 

Catholicism  was  ungrateful  to  its  Greek  and  Eoman  ante-  (S)  Meai- 
cedents,  but  the  regenerate  West,  whilst  not  deterred  by  this 
action  of  Catholicism  from  paying  habitual  honour  to  our 
intellectual  and  social  progenitors,  will  know  how  to  reconcile 
such  honour  with  due  reverence  for  the  Middle  Ages.  Although 
the  medisBval  or  affective  transition  could  offer  no  real  discipline 
for  our  powers,  either  of  speculation  or  action,  yet  from  the 
mere  fact  that  it  inherited  those  powers  in  an  advanced  state 
of  cultivation,  it  was  able  to  give  a  better  form  to  the  pro- 
gramme of  man's  action  than  that  of  the  earlier  theocracy. 
The  Positivist,  equally  with  the  Middle-Age  construction,  only 
more  directly  and  more  unreservedly,  asserts  the  supremacy  of 
feeling,  but  without  unduly  hampering  the  intellect  or  activity, 
and  as  a  natural  result  of  its  assertion  vindicates  the  wisdom 
of  Catholicism  and  the  soundness  of  the  feudal  instinct. 

The  relativity,  which  is  its  characteristic,  enables  the  final 
religion  fully  to  recognise  the  advantages  accruing  to  the  race 
during  the  two  periods  of  its  childhood,  from  the  fusion  of  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  powers  effected  first  by  the  priests,  then 
by  the  military  class.  Not  the  less  will  it  deeply  honour  the 
triumphant  effort  of  its  adolescence  to  establish  the  separation 


Eeval. 


14       SYSTEM   OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE   OF  MAN. 

of  the  two  as  their  normal  relation.  The  heart  and  the  intellect 
concur  in  this  conciliatory  judgment  as  indispensable  to  the 
true  love  or  the  true  understanding  of  the  Great  Being,  the 
condition  of  such  love  or  understanding  being  the  right  appre^ 
ciation  of  the  several  periods  of  unsystematic  preparation  which 
must  precede  its  systematic  creation. 
th"mod"n''  Impelled  by  the  same  relativity,  the  Western  world  wiU 
Bevoiurion.  justly  extend  its  gratitude  to  the  singtdar  period  of  anarchy 
which,  in  the  course  of  events,  followed  on  the  above  series  of 
transitions  of  a  partially  organic  character.  Ultimately,  no 
doubt,  the  whole  education  of  the  race  in  its  entirety  is  tlie 
basis  of  settlement,  but  immediately,  the  settlement  must  issue 
from  the  double  movement  of  destruction  and  construction ; 
from  the  negative  as  well  as  the  positive  operation  peculiar 
to  the  last  five  centuries.  The  true  religion  has  to  look  for 
its  adherents  mainly  to  the  conservative,  party ;  but  for  its 
origin,  it  could  take  its  rise  nowhere  but  in  the  revolutionary 
camp ;  there  its  first  germs  found  a  due  welcome  as  heralding 
the  satisfaction  of  an  imperious  want,  the  termination  of  the 
revolutionary  movement. 
Fetichjst  j[n  this  introductory  recapitulation  of  the  points  of  afiSnity 

period  J  i.  r  j 

reeerrea.  between  the  future  and  each  of  the  great  constituent  phases  of 
the  past,  there  seems  at  first  sight  an  omission  ;  it  does  not 
include,  that  is,  the  regime  adapted  to  the  infancy  of  mankind. 
The  readers  of  the  third  volume,  however,  must  have  felt  that 
this  solitary  exception,  far  from  indicating  less  sympathy 
between  Positivism  and  Fetichism,  is  on  the  contrary  a  con- 
sequence of  their  closer  connection.  The  various  forms  of 
Theologism  have  wholly  to  disappear,  leaving  no  other  traces 
as  a  rule  but  the  perpetual  celebration  of  the  services  they  . 
rendered  in  their  day;  hence  the  obligation  to  recall  their 
several  contributions,  so  indispensable  as  steps  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  ultimate  state.  Fetichism,  on  the  other  hand, 
alone  of  the  series  of  educational  states,  by  virtue  of  its  un-r 
equalled  spontaneity,  is  destined  to  incorporation  with  Posi- 
tivism, and  the  passage  from  the  one  to  the  other  might  be 
immediate.  I  was  justified  then  in  reserving  any  indication 
of  this  enduring  affinity  for  the  occasions  which  will  natul-ally 
arise  in  the  course  of  the  volume  for  its  exposition  in  detail. 
Eesuitofthe  Summing  up  the  five  antecedent  comparisons,  Sociocracy 
plriBo"^.'       will  combine  the  synthetic  power  of  the  Theocracy  with  the 


Ch4p.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  1 5 

threefold  stimulus  derived  from  the  three  successive  periods 
oi  partial  and  transitional  organisation,  and  the  result  of  the 
combination  will  be  the  carrying  out  of  the  true  programme 
of  the  revolution,  which  it  is  its  task  to  close.  In  this  way- 
all  the  stages  of  the  preparatory  life  of  man,  all  without  ex-' 
ception,  contribute  to  inaugurate  the  definitive  form  of  his 
existence.  This  convergence  of  all  the  epochs  of  the  past  to 
the  future  is  but  a  consequence  of  the  fact  that  the  problem 
for  the  race  has  always  been  in  substance  one  and  the  same : 
viz.  to  constitute  as  far  as  possible  the  general  unity  of  our 
nature  for  the  individual  and  the  society.  Not  to  mention 
that  each  fresh  approximation  to  such  an  end  necessarily  rested 
on  the  succession  of  previous  steps,  the  entire  series  is  required 
when  we  come  to  the  special  question  of  the  solution,  the 
systematic  solution,  of  the  problem,  for  otherwise  it  were  im- 
possible to  state  it  aright.  We  may  add  that  the  sevei-al 
programmes  of  the  past  all  admit  of  combination,  provided  that 
we  begin  by  disengaging  them  from  the  perishable  forms 
which  alone  rendered  them  conflicting. 

Such  a  fusion  of  the  normal  state  with  the  whole  of  the  The  fusion 
existence  which  has  prepared  it,  offers  us  at  once  the  strongest  withaepast 
guarantee  for  the  stability  of  the  future,  and  the  best  guide  in  Sawuty  °^ 
determining  its  general  character.    As  the  philosophy  of  history  ™udancS 
rests  beyond  dispute  upon  social  Statics,  these  are  henceforth  its 
most  conclusive  summary.     For  there  can  be  no  surer  mode  of 
gaining  a  right  conception  of  the  conditions  of  unity  than  by 
tracing  it  in  the  consecutive  phases  of  its  natural  development. 
Hence  the  dependence  of  the  future  on  the  past,  though  not  of 
our  choice,  is  so  far  from  an  obstacle  to  our  meditations  on  the  ' 

-  process  of  reconstruction,  that  without  it  they  could  not  be 
sound  and  fruitful.  By  its  aid  we  may  avoid,  in  regard  to 
them,  any  Utopian  speculation,  or  retrace  our  steps  if  we  have 
fallen  into  one,  and  this  even  on  the  secondary  points  on  which 
the  series  of  our  antecedents  does  not  throw  light  enough  to 
supersede  the  necessity  of  some  additional  deductions. 

Nor  on  any  other  method  could  we  so  present  the  future  as  Their  neg- 
that  its  conception,  accepted  by  all  the  Western   nations  in  the  methoVex- 
first  place,  then  meeting,  as  it  is  bound  to  do,  the  wants  of  the  Fm^tem:e 
less  advanced  portions  of  mankind,  should  gradually,  by  its  free  ut^Sasr 
adoption,  inaugurate  the  religion  of  Humanity.     One  Utopia 
after  another  has,  during  the  last  three  centuries,  claimed  the 


16       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

guidance  of  the  movemeut  towards  definitive  reorganisation, 
none  has  ever  united  in  real  conviction  two  human  souls.    Their 
common  failure  is  simply  due  to  their  always  having  attempted 
to  conceive  the  future  independently,  and  not  as  deduced  from 
the  past  as  a  whole,  a  conception  beyond  our  grasp  prior  to  the 
rise    of  Positivism.      Thus  isolated,  prophecy   was   inevitably 
as  barren  as  it  was  chimerical  when  dealing  with  phenomena, 
the  complex  nature  of  which  involves  the  highest  difficulty  for 
the   imagination,  even  with  all  the  aid  derived  from   obser- 
vation.    In  Biology  we  can  hardly  imagine  a  completely  new 
organism  free   from   all  incompatibilities.      In  Sociology  the 
difficulty  is  naturally  much  greater ;  there  the  freest  dreams 
have  ever  fallen  short  of  actual  changes,  the  most  striking 
instance  being  that  of  slavery.     Yet  the  persistent  recmTence 
in  recent  times  of  Utopias,  undeterred  by  their  inevitable  failm'e, 
was  a  sign  that  the  time  was  approaching  for  satisfying  the 
instinct  of  continuity  which  has  been  characteristic  of  the  in- 
tellect of  Western   Europe  ever  since  its  abandonment  of  a 
heavenly  for  an  earthly  future. 
Properties  of         We  are  thus  led  to  recognise  in  the  Positive  Eeliaion  two 

the  Positive  °  ° 

religion:  tbe  properties,  the  one  intellectual,  the  other  moral,  standing  in 

mtroduotioa    r      r  :>  '  £> 

of  pveyision;  close  relation  to  one  another,  and  in  their  consequences  forminff 

the  basing  *■  ° 

unity  on  ia-    a  clue  to  the  leadmg  conceptions  of  the  present  volume.     These 

nate  altru-  i  i 

ism.  properties  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the  perfecting  the  constitution 

of  our  minds  by  extending  prevision  to  all  phenomena  without 
exception  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  basing  the  unity  of  our 
emotional  nature  on  the  innate  existence  of  the  sympathetic 
instincts.  The  two  attributes  are  inherent  in  true  Positivity, 
and  follow  on  the  simultaneous  substitution  of  a  demonstrable 
faith  for  belief  in  the  supernatural,  of  pacific  industry  for  exist- 
ence founded  upon  war. 

Fii-st  attri-  It  were  a  waste  of  time  here  to  prove,  that  to  determine  the 

bute — pre- 
vision, future  by  the  past  is  everywhere  the  note  of  a  reaUy  rational 

method,  as  establishing  the  true  connection  between  speculation 
and  action.  During  the  last  three  centuries  science  has  satis- 
factorily exhibited  this  power,  its  conclusive  test,  while  industry 
has,  as  a  natural  result,  popularised  the  conception.  But  the 
most  powerful  minds  dare  not  as  yet  apply  it  in  its  most  im- 
portant sphere,  owing  to  their  not  substituting  in  that  spherp 
laws  for  causes. 

None  the  less  is  it  to  social  and  moral  phenomena  more 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  17    ' 

than  others,  that  rational  prevision  is  applicable,  seeing  that  Pre™ioii 
continuity  is  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  sociological  con-  piicabTto 
ceptions,  and  it  is  to  them  that,  objectively,  our  thoughts  on  nomenaf  ^' 
Morals  must  be  subordinated. 

It  follows  that  the  futiu:e  of  Humanity  offers  the  best  field 
for,  the  intellect  as  for  the  activity  of  man.  To  determine  that 
future,  and  to  inaugurate  it, — for  both  equally  we  need  the  same 
principle  of  historical  filiation,  the  recognition  of  the  necessary 
dependence  of  the  future  on  the  past  in  which  it  has  its  roots, 
and  from  which  it  derives  its  guidance.  The  inductions  of 
dynamical  require,  it  is  true,  in  all  cases  to  be  verified  by  com- 
paring them  with  the  deductions  of  statical  sociology,  but  they 
are  our  sole  immediate  means  for  the  right  construction  of  that 
synoptical  survey  of  man's  future  on  which  alone  we  can  hence- 
forward consent  to  lean. 

The  achievement  of  this  construction  will  at  no  distant 
period  ensure  the  universal  triumph  of  the  Positive  religion, 
putting  an  end  at  once  to  agitation  and  stagnation,  both 
equally  noxious — both  equally  empirical.  Theology  and  Meta- 
physics, from  a  sense  of  their  common  incompetence  as  regards 
this  highest  domain  of  human  thought,  will  doubtless  unite 
with  the  distinct  object  of  resisting  the  solution  offered  by 
Positivism.  Their  ineffectual  protest  will  but  serve  to  display 
more  clearly  its  exclusive  competence  to  satisfy  the  chief  want 
of  modern  reason. 

The  determination  of  the  future,  adapted  as  it  is  to  form  a  The  true 
rallying  point  for  man's  instinctive  aspirations  and  his  philo-  noweatlb- 
sophic  tendencies,  is  the  foundation  for  the  direct  inauguration 
of  the  religion  of  Humanity  as  the  natural  sequel  of  this  work. 
The  result  must  be  the  definitive  establishment  of  the  true 
Synthesis,  since  all  sound  speculations  will  converge  to  regulate 
the  general  action  of  the  Western  nations.  Moral  science,  thus 
tested  and  found  able  to  stand  the  test,  will  be  supreme  from 
the  subjective,  dependent  from  the  objective,  point  of  view,  and 
the  combination  of  the  two  constitutes  it  the  immutable  basis 
of  our  unity,  both  in  theory  and  practice. 

Allowing  its  just  importance  to  this  intellectual  attribute  innatenees 
of  Positivism,  we  must  attach  superior  value  even  intellectually  °  *  ""^°^^ 
to  the  moral  attribute  which  completes  it,  and  this  on  the 
grbund  of  its  greater  influence  on  the  creation  of  the  true 
Synthesis.   For  this  very  reason  Theology  and  Metaphysics  reject 
VOL.  lY.  c 


18        SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Innate  al- 
trui'siii  ne- 
cessary if 
"we  would 
construct  a 
systematic 
morality 
statically. 


Dynami- 
cally. 


instinctive  altruism  more  unreservedly  than  they  reject  socio- 
logical prevision.  The  innateness  of  the  benevolent  instincts 
and  the  earth's  motion  are  the  most  important  results  of  modem 
science,  as  laying  the  essential  bases,  the  one  the  subjective, 
the  other  the  objective,  of  true  relativity.  The  two  prepared 
the  way  for  Positivism,  but  had  to  wait  for  its  advent  for  their 
due  influence  on  man's  whole  existence.  Dimly  seen,  each 
in  its  own  way,  at  the  very  beginning  of  our  advance,  they 
could  not  emerge  into  full  light  till  Monotheism  had  lost  its 
power. 

Standing  in  direct  connection  with  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  Positive  synthesis,  the  doctrine  of  innate  altruism 
alone  enables  us  to  establish  a  systematic  morality,  which,  by 
virtue  of  its  subordination  objectively  to  Sociology,  may  take 
the  presidency,  subjectively,  of  the  encyclopsedic  hierarchy. 
Before  the  establishment  of  this  doctrine,  in  fact.  Morals  were 
universally  recognised  as  supreme,  but  that  they  were  so  was 
due  to  the  wisdom  of  the  priesthood  ;  their  supremacy  was  an 
empirical  truth  not  able  to  stand  discussion.  Theoricians  aimed 
at  placing  philosophy,  practical  men  politics,  above  Morals, 
as  a  branch  of  study  which  seemed  limited  to  the  individual, 
the  social  point  of  view  being  as  yet  inaccessible.  If  the  un- 
selfish instincts  are  not  part  of  man's  nature  the  problem  of 
man's  life  is  insoluble,  and  is  not  even  susceptible  of  any  syn- 
thetical statement.  Unity  from  within,  subjective  unity,  thus 
unattainable  by  man  in  consequence  of  the  antagonism  between 
the  individual  and  the  species,  philosophy  would  have  per- 
petually oscillated  between  the  various  attempts  at  an  objective 
systematisation.  Over  and  above,  then,  its  value  as  an  aSective, 
the  innateness  of  our  sympathies  has  great  importance  as  an 
intellectual,  conclusion,  as  indispensable  to  any  abstract  con- 
ception of  social  existence.  But  by  virtue  of  this  very  con- 
nection, its  triumphant  demonstration,  hampered  as  it  was, 
moreover,  by  the  obstacles  offered  by  theological  beliefs  and 
metaphysical  hypotheses,  naturally  coincided  with  the  definitive 
advent  of  Sociology. 

To  give  its  full  signification  to  this  indispensable  connec- 
tion we  must  trace  it  even  in  social  dynamics,  though  it  may 
appear  applicable  solely  in  statics.  It  is  easy  to  see  that,  were 
it  not  so  traced,  we  could  not  form  the  practical  scale  of  man's 
progress,  which,  originally  material,  becomes  subsequently  in- 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  19 

tellectual,  and  finally  moral ;  for  we  should,  in  regard  to  it,  be 
simply  coordinating  means  without  taking  account  of  the  end. 
Further,  on  the  same  hypothesis,  any  philosophical  theory  of 
the  whole  evolution  of  the  race  would  also  become  impossible, 
from  the  want  of  any  natural  condensation.  The  preceding 
volume  proves  to  our  satisfaction  that  progress,  in  reference  to 
the  affections,  whilst  not  amenable  to  any  direct  impulse,  is 
the  resultant,  the  necessary  resultant,  of  the  two  simultaneous 
movements  of  the  intellect  and  the  activity.  Had  the  advance 
of  the  two  no  effect  in  modifying  feeling,  it  could  never  be 
more  than  a  preparatory  step,  and  as  such  could  not  be  brought 
under  any  really  comprehensive  law.  This  necessary  adaptation 
of  the  emotional  changes,  to  be  the  condensed  expression  of  the 
whole  human  evolution,  cannot  be  a  property  of  egoism  ;  it 
resides  exclusively  in  altruism,  for  it  is  altruism  alone  which 
.enables  us  to  represent  the  entire  movement  by  the  gradual 
advance  towards  ascendancy  of  the  social  feelings.  Thus  it  is 
that  in  the  social  instincts  we  find  the  source  of  order  and  the 
aim  of  progress,  and  this  as  a  consequence  of  their  non-contact 
with  the  external  world,  their  dependent  position  making  it, 
however,  more  difiicult  to  estimate  them,  veiled  as  they  are  by 
the  dominion  of  egoism. 

Adopting  this  conclusion,  the  two  leading  attributes,  moral  socioioKioai 
and  intellectual,  of  complete  positivity  are  henceforth  to  be  amiirinate 
held  inseparable.     So  long  as  social  phenomena  are  not  brought  henceforLh 

■'-  °  ■*■  o  iusepiitable. 

within  the  scope  of  scientific  prevision,  the  innateness  of  the 
benevolent  instincts  cannot  be  demonstrated  so  conclusively  as 
to  overcome  the  repugnance  of  theologians  and  the  sophisms  of 
metaphysicians.  But  conversely,  the  past  as  a  whole  remains 
unintelligible  if  in  its  study  we  have  not  the  guidance  afforded 
by  a  full  conviction  of  the  innateness  of  these  instincts,  they 
alone  rendering  collective  existence  a  possibility.  In  their 
origin  a  protest  against  an  oppressive  system,  the  two  doctrines 
will  now  preside  at  the  inauguration  of  the  second  period  of 
man's  existence,  nor  could  we  hope  for  a  better  aid  at  its  open- 
ing. But,  allowing  this,  it  is  still  for  the  peaceful  develope- 
ment  of  our  maturity  that  is  reserved  the  main  growth  of  the 
two  attribute's,  when  all  the  struggles  of  preparation  and 
installation  finally  over,  the  normal  powers  alone  come  into 
view. 

Still,  in  reference  to  the  two,  we  must  not  go  too  far  in 


20 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Previous  re- 
cognition of 
the  two  in 
Fefcichibm 
and  Poly- 
ttieism. 


In  Mono- 
tiaeism. 


claiming  them  as  exclusive  characteristics  of  the  Positive  state, 
as  that  might  clash  with  what  has  been  previously  said  of  the 
general  connection  of  the  second  life  of  the  race  with  its  first. 
It  is  only  since  its  inevitable  decline  that  the  older  Synthesis 
has  been  really  adverse  to  these  attributes.  In  its  period  of 
power  it  naturally  lent  encouragement  to  their  spontaneous 
growth,  which  had  been  impossible  without  it.  Firstly,  there 
was  no  incompatibility  between  Fetichism  and  scientific  pre- 
vision, the  rudiments  of  which  we  trace  in  regard  to  celestial 
phenomena ;  still  less  was  there  such  incompatibility  in  regard 
to  the  direct  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  sympathetic  in- 
stincts. And  although  Theologism  proved  less  favourable,  yet 
as  Polytheism  it  encouraged  both  attributes  on  a  decisive  scale. 
By  the  extension  of  divination,  the  priestly,  as  the  military, 
period  of  antiquity  fostered  the  practice  of  prevision  in  the 
only  form  admissible  under  the  then  conditions  of  intelligence 
and  action.  Altruism  could  not  receive  its  due  recognition  in  the 
polytheistic  Synthesis,  but  the  vague  presentation  of  it  which 
that  Synthesis  allowed,  was  sufficient  to  extract  their  beneficial 
effects  from  the  impulses  of  practical  life,  so  long  as  the  fusion 
of  the  two  powers  concentrated  man's  attention  upon  his  earthly 
existence. 

Passing  to  Monotheism,  it  is  its  doctrine  alone  that  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  more  marked  opposition  to  these  associate 
attributes,  and  the  defects  in  that  doctrine  were  long  counter- 
balanced by  the  wisdom  of  its  priesthood  and  the  influences  of 
the  social  state.  In  the  name  .  of  its  doctrine,  Catholicism,  the 
religion  of  our  adolescence,  proscribed  the  divination  appro- 
priate to  our  childhood,  but  could  not  substitute  prevision,  as 
that  was  reserved  for  our  adult  age,  and  the  proscription  would 
have  seriously  compromised  an  indispensable  branch  of  mental 
cultivation  had  not  some  fortunate  inconsistencies  tempered 
the  compression.  Astrolatry,  anterior  in  time  and  superior  in 
value  to  Theologism,  in  defiance  of  the  ofiBcial  belief,  was  the 
source  of  a  philosophical  impulse  which  saved  our  tendency  to 
look  forward  from  irreparable  disuse,  and  gained  the  victory 
over  the  competing  power  of  revelation.  As  for  altruism,  the 
monotheistic  period  of  transition  found  in  its  system  of  life  the 
corrective  of  its  doctrinal  antagonism.  Its  purely  objective 
immortality  gave,  it  is  true,  in  principle  the  predominance  to 
absolute  egoism,  but  the  result,  in  a  social  point  of  view,  of  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  2l 

doctrine  was  the  separation,  however  imperfect,  of  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  power,  and  the  consequence  of  that  separation 
was,  throughout  the  whole  Western  world,  the  culture — -the 
indirect  it  may  be,  yet  the  decisive  culture — of  our  moral 
nature.  The  sympathetic  portion  of  our  nature  was  the  su- 
preme province  of  the  divine  power,  and  the  defective  theory 
of  human  nature  was  hereby  corrected  as  far  as  it  could  be. 
Moreover,  as  a,ny  moral  discipline  whatever  tends  to  second  the 
spontaneous  growth  of  the  benevolent  inclinations,  they  really 
found  the  greatest  encouragement  under  the  empire  of  the 
beliefs  which  were  least  disposed  to  admit  their  existence. 

Practically,  then,  the  adverse  attitude  of  the  older  Syntheses  The  hos- 
to  the  two  attributes  of  Positivism  must  be  limited  to  the  Monrtheism 
decline  of  Monotheism  during  the  "Western  revolution,  when  itTaecMne. 
the  priesthood  had  lost  its  power  of  correcting  the  doctrine. 
But  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  that  period  gave  the  ascend- 
ancy to  an  intellectual  and  practical  movement,  which,  in  spite 
of  the  empiricism  and  egoism  that  defaced  it,  led  directly  to 
the  growth  of  prevision  in  science  and  of  innate  altruism  in 
morals.    The  strongest  condemnation  of  the  reaction  attempted 
in  the  name  of  order  is  its  futile  protest  against  this  fuller 
acceptance  of  the  two  doctrines,  an  acceptance  ever  tending 
towards  a  complete  systematisation. 

The  doctrine  of  historical  filiation,  the  inevitable  depen-  Formation 
dence,  that  is,  of  the  ultimate  solution  on  the  whole  of  the  oMEegime 

r    t  TP  •  11  t     •  r    °^ *^^ Habits 

preparatory  state  oi  human  lite,  were  mcompletely  stated  it  ana  the 
in  its  consideration  we  neglected  the  important  point  of  the  adapted  to 

_  our  matu- 

formation,  the  instinctive  formation  of  the  habits,  nay,  even  rity. 
of  the  principle  adapted  to  the  maturity  of  mankind. 

The  most  difiScult  point  for  Positivism  in  its  effort  to  TheHawts. 
reorganise  is  to  secure  in  the  minds  of  men  the  continuous 
developement  of  the  subjective  existence.  Each  generation 
as  it  passes  must  ever  feel  itself  by  virtue  of  that  existence 
placed  between  the  sum  of  the  generations  that  have  preceded 
it,  and  of  those  which  are  to  follow  it,  so  as  to  give  full  effect 
to  that  basic  continuity  in  the  name  of  which  it  obeys  the 
past  and  serves  the  future.  We  shall  be  bound  to  keep  up  an 
intercourse  with  the  dead,  and  even  with  those  yet  unborn, 
more  uninterrupted  though  less  intimate  than  our  intercourse 
with  our  contemporaries.  We  cannot  avoid  the  difficulty  of 
this  requirement,  and  yet  it  were  too  great  for  us  were  it  not 


22        SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

for  the  previous  theological  training,  which  yet  had  no  eye  to 
this  capital  result.  Fetichism  gave  life  to  all  around  us,  but 
in  P^etichism  we  were  never  in  contact  with  any  but  actually 
living,  though  in  many  cases  absent,  beings.  It  was  during 
the  long  period  of  Theologism  that  we  gained  the  habit  of 
living  in  the  presence  of  purely  ideal  beings,  in  whom,  however, 
none  the  less  was  our  whole  destiny  bound  up.  And  although 
the  rise  and  growth  of  this  habit — of  this  subjective  life — were, 
necessarily  due  in  larger  proportion  to  Polytheism,  it  was 
Monotheism  which  organised  it  provisionally  into  a  system, 
and  by  so  doing  in  some  degree  made  amends  for  the  diminu- 
tion of  intensity  it  produced. 

Tbe^Prin-  Lastly,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  fundamental  con- 

ception of  the  new  Synthesis,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see,  in  the 
light  of  the  last  volume,  a  distinct  preparation  of  it  running 
through  the  whole  past.  To  minds  influenced  by  the  existing 
anarchy,  every  collective  being  tends  to  present  itself  as  a 
mere  entity,  yet  none  the  less  is  it  true  that  no  coherence,  no 
dignity  have  been  or  are  possible  for  the  individual  unless  in 
subordination  to  some  larger  and  composite  existence.  It  is 
only  in  dependence  on  some  such  existence  that  we  can  satisfy 
our  desire  to  perpetuate  this  transitory  life,  for  we  thus  link 
it  to  an  imperishable  being.  This,  the  direct  mode  of  satis- 
faction, must  be  held  to  have  long  preceded  the  indirect  mode 
due  to  the  fictions  of  Theology,  since  it  dates  from  Fetichism, 
being  a  conseqiience  of  the  creation  by  Fetichism  of  the  Family; 
This  primal  solution  was  never  superseded  by  the  promises  of 
supernatural  religion,  for  its  promises,  though  increasing  in 
attractiveness,  appealed  exclusively  to  man's  selfish  instincts. 
Unconsciously  he  was  constantly  drawn  on  by  his  unselfish 
affections  to  extend  his  relations,  so  the  better  to  secure  a 
subjective  immortality.  Prior  to  the  impulse  given  by  Mono- 
theism towards  absolute  isolation  as  the  true  aim  of  each 
individual.  Polytheism  in  both  its  forms,  sacerdotal  and  military, 
had  already  definitively  created  the  Country,  and  in  practice  the 
influence  of  the  idea  habitually  overbore  that  of  the  mono- 
theistic theory. 

Humanity.  The  Family  and  the  Country,  these  are  the  two  collective 

beings  which  in  due  succession  were  to  lead  by  a  natural 
process  to  the  conception  and  the  feeling  of  Humanity,  which 
may  be  looked   on  as  the  common  country  or  the  universal 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  23 

family.  The  three  complex  terms  will  ever  be  the  successive 
steps  of  a  natural  progression  indispensable  for  our  heart  and 
intellect  if  we  would  reach  the  true  Synthesis.  On  a  comparison 
of  the  two  terms  peculiar  to  the  earlier  period,  we  see  at  once 
that  the  larger  union  is  of  a  nature  to  foster  our  sense  of 
dignity,  the  more  intimate  to  insure  fixity  of  existence.  The 
family  is  the  basis  of  the  state,  but  it  requires  the  influence  of 
the  state  upon  it  to  perfect  it.  They  react  one  on  the  other, 
and  are  thus  seen  to  be  both  equally  connected  with  the  term 
which  completes  the  series  of  collective  existences. 

On  a  closer  consideration  of  this  synthetic  progression,  we  The  west 
see  in  it  an  announcement,  as  it  were,  of  the  proximate  advent 
of  the  third  term,  Humanity,  by  the  intercalation,  after  the 
second,  of  a  new  and  capital  conception. 

Between  the  Family  and  the  State  Theocracy  had  intro-  intercaia- 
duced  the  Caste,  on  the  ground  of  its  value  as  a  combination  of  wSt'be-'' 
birth  and  calling.     Similarly  Catholicism  legitimately  avails  otyanri^ 
itself  of  the  distinction  between  the  two  powers  to  introduce     ""^"''y- 
the  conception  of  the  West,  the  immediate  precursor  of  Hu- 
manity, which  it  prepares  by  familiarising  us  with  a  purely 
spiritual  union.     This  completes  the  preparatory  process  needed 
to  enable  us  to  feel  and  to  conceive  the  Great  Being,  though 
each   subdivision  of  that  process  is  threatened  with  absolute 
impuissance  by  the   anarchy  of  modem   times.      The  survey 
shows  us  how  deeply  the  reconstruction  offered  by  Positivism  is 
rooted  in  the  past — how  it  will  realise  all  the  aspirations  of 
that  past — only  under  new    forms,  as  the  condition  of  their 
converging. 

The  nature  and  object  of  the  volume  necessitated  the  special  The  deter, 

.  mination  of 

introduction  here  given.     It  is  sufficient  to  place  us  in  the  the  future 

.  .  depends  on 

frame  of  mind  appropriate  to  the  construction — a  construction  the  expiana- 

t      „  ,  ,  tion  of  the 

such   as  has   never  before  been  attempted — on  which  I  now  past,  ob- 

■  stacles  not 

enter  without  further  preface.     The  imminent  danger  of  such  a  to  be  over- 

^  ,  .  °  rated. 

construction's  sinking  into  a  utopia  can  only  be  avoided  by 
keeping  constantly  in  view  the  earlier  history  of  each  institu- 
tion, its  roots  in  the  past.  This  we  may  do  by  the  aid  of  the 
two  preceding  volumes,  so  far  at  least  that  the  regeneration  of 
the  world  by  Positivism  may  be  shown  in  the  present  volume 
to  be  as  indispensable  as  it  is  inevitable,  in  that  it  offers  the 
sole  issue  of  the  Western  Eevolution.  The  process  of  deter- 
mining the  future  will  be  simply  the  continuation  and  develope- 


24        SYSTEM  OP  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  'FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Systematic 
Explanation 
of  Human- 
ity. 

Preparation 
for  it  in  the 
previous 
volumes. 


Humanity 
real  and 
useful. 


(a)  Its 
Eeality. 


ment  of  the  method  on  which  I  have  throughout  relied  for 
treating  in  succession  the  several  phases  of  the  past,  each  of 
which  in  turn  was,  relatively  to  its  predecessor,  future.  We 
must  not  attach  too  great  weight  to  the  obstacles  presented  by 
the  spread  of  disorder.  As  it  spreads,  the  aspirations  after  an 
universal  order  grow  stronger  as  they  have  ever  done ;  and  the 
vague  presentiment  of  that  order  simply  demands  for  the  satis- 
faction of  ardent  longings  its  systematic  construction.  The 
subversion  of  the  civic  and  even  family  ties  with  which  we  are 
now  threatened  cannot  conceal  an  undefined  tendency  towards 
the  regeneration  which  shall  place  them  on  a  new,  sounder,  and 
purer  basis,  by  bringing  them  into  their  proper  subordination 
to  the  only  tie  which  has  strength  enough  to  overcome  collective 
selfishness  in  all  its  forms.  And  although  it  is  the  longing  for 
order  which  is  above  all  satisfied  by  the  Eeligion  of  Humanity, 
its  first  welcome  was  from  the  instincts  of  progress  which  it 
undertakes  to  discipline. 

In  entering  on  the  systematic  expositiom  of  Humanity,  as 
the  basis  of  the  Positive  Eeligion,  I  presuppose  in  my  readers  a 
familiarity  with  the  earlier  volumes  and  their  successive  con- 
tributions, constituting  a  natural  preparation  of  the  subject. 
The  first  volume  dealt  directly  with  the  conception  in  its 
general  outline  ;  the  second  explained  its  nature  in  the  abstract ; 
the  third  treated  its  historical  and  concrete  developement.  The 
three  facilitate  greatly  the  detailed  construction  of  the  present 
volume,  the  crowning  effort  of  the  work,  but  they  cannot  take 
its  place. 

Above  all,  our  previous  labour  warrants  us  in  considering 
the  conception  of  Humanity  as  having  stood  satisfactorily  the 
two  general  tests  of  all  positive  conceptions,  that  they  should 
be  real  and  be  useful. 

Were  there  solid  grounds  for  contesting  the  existence  of  the 
Great  Being  its  kingdom  could  not  be  at  hand.  But  at  its 
present  stage  its  existence  needs  no  proof;  its  reality  is  deeply 
stamped  on  all  its  creations,  in  morals,  in  the  arts  and  sciences, 
in  industry  ;  in  all  of  which,  by  positive  analysis,  we  trace  the 
co-operation  of  all  ages  and  nations.  The  less  general,  the  less 
durable  the  result,  as  in  industry,  the  more  has  this  co-operation 
of  time  and  place  been  ever  recognised,  as  the  greater  facility 
of  attainment  throws  it  open  to  larger  numbers  to  share  in  it, 
and  this  of  itself  challenges  recognition.     Where  the  intensity 


Cbap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  25 

of  the  individual  effort  masks  the  influence  of  the  collective, 
the  sublimity  of  the  results  of  that  effort  removes  the  mask,  as 
is  evidenced  by  the  incomparable  poem  in  which  Dante,  under 
the  stimulus  of  the  Middle  Ages,  has  unconsciously  embodied 
the  whole  system  of  Catholicism.  It  is  a  consequence  of  the 
indivisibility  which  characterises  human  nature  that  each 
particular  proof  of  the  highest  Unity,  Humanity,  strengthens 
all  the  others,  and  might  logically  serve  in  lieu  of  them,  but 
that  it  is  wiser  to  multiply  demonstrations  inseparably  bound 
up  with  our  noblest  emotions.  All  the  current  sciphisms,  of 
anarchical  or  retrograde  origin,  against  the  accumulating  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  Humanity,  are  inherently  self-contra- 
dictory, in  that  the  very  language  in  which  the  blasphemy  finds 
vent  is  of  all  human  constructions  the  most  social.  And  no 
protest  has  yet  been  consequent  enough  to  dare  to  deny  also 
the  existence  of  the  Family  or  the  Country,  both  equally  with 
Humanity,  by  their  nature  composite  beings,  composite  whether 
we  regard  coexistence  or  Succession,  only  more  limited  in 
extent,  and  so  facilitating  our  perception  of  co-operation. 

That  the  conception  of  Humanity  and  the  feelings  it  evokes  g)  !*« 
are  useful — this  is  a  point  which  the  individualist,  be  he 
theologian  or  metaphysician,  can  hardly  dispute  as  he  disputes 
their  reality.  The  more  sincere  among  them  do  not  dispute 
it ;  they  limit  themselves  to  asserting  the  superiority  of  their 
Synthesis  as  regards  man's  interests  in  the  other  world,  leaving 
this  world  to  the  wise  guidance  of  Positivism,  which  accepts 
the  arrangement.  Impracticable,  so  long  as  the  government  of 
the  world  we  know  necessarily  vested  in  theologians  of  some 
denomination  or  other,  this  final  settlement  is  inevitable  when 
rivals  appear,  avowing  a  contemptuous  indifference  to  heaven, 
and  concentrating  with  dignity  their  interest  upon  earth. 
Then  it  is  at  once  generally  felt,  that  to  govern  the  world  we 
require  on  the  one  hand  the  knowledge  of  its  laws,  on  the  other, 
a  real  interest  in  its  destinies.  Exiles  in  a  world  governed  by 
unintelligible  caprice, — all  who  so  look  on  themselves  are  by 
that  very  fact  incapable  of  swaying  it,  for  they  can  as  little 
imagine  its  future  as  they  can  interpret  its  past.  But  the 
exclusive  competence  of  the  Eositivist  conception  for  the  direc- 
tion of  human  affairs  may  be  best  shown  by  reference  to  the 
question  of  universality,  a  question  distinctly  broached  twenty 


26         SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

centuries  ago,  but  not  answered.      It  awaits  its  answer  from 
Humanity,  the  older  Synthesis  having  evidently  failed. 
geraiTofTho  ^^  vfere  needless  to  dwell  longer  on  these  two  general  pro- 

oonoeption.  perties  of  reality  and  utility,  they  will  come  out  more  and 
more  clearly  as  we  proceed.  Before  proceeding,  however,  to 
the  direct  statement  of  the  theory  of  the  Grreat  Being,  I  must 
here  pass  in  review,  in  regular  order,  the  germs  of  that  concep- 
tion. It  is  of  importance,  in  the  case  of  this  basic  principle, 
to  bring  out  with  more  than  usual  distinctness  the  filiation  of 
ideas  ;  a  point  always  to  be  attended  to  in  synthetical  concep- 
tions. 

The  fact  of  man's  living  in  society  led,  at  an  early  period, 
Feeling  to  a  rudimentary  conception,  without  any  rational  basis, 
of  Humanity.  Pure  Fetichisra  was  unable,  it  is  true,  to  get 
beyond  the  family,  but  within  that  sphere  it  gave  distinct  ex- 
pression to  continuity,  primarily  in  reference  to  the  coming 
generation,  but  extending  it  subsequently  to  the  preceding,  a 
progress  dating  from  the  institution  of  the  Elders.  But  it  was 
more  especially  civic  existence,  in  which  alone  there  could  be 
a  satisfactory  developement  of  the  intellect  and  activity,  which 
originated  the  tendency,  inherent  in  every  human  society,  to 
consider  itself  the  nucleus  of  Humanity.  Polytheism — Conser- 
vative Polytheism — gave  a  direct  encouragement  to  this  aspira- 
tion after  universality  by  the  comprehensiveness  of  its  synthesis* 
The  intellectual  Polytheism  called  out  the  esthetic  and  scientific 
powers  of  man,  an  implicit  foreshadowing  of  the  general  con- 
vergence of  his  efforts.  The  social  Polytheism  awoke  a  sense, 
never  again  to  be  lost,  of  this  convergence  of  the  Eace,  by  its 
successful  organisation,  under  the  only  form  then  practically 
admissible,  of  collective  action.  The  last  step  was  taken,  and 
.the  course  of  preparation  was  complete,  when  Monotheism 
formed  a  spiritual  union  between  a  number  of  nations  politically 
independent. 

In  spite  of  the  anarchy  of  post-Catholic  times,  this  general 
result  of  the  education  of  mankind  tended  gradually  to  assume 
a  systematic  shape,  in  consequence  of  the  general  adoption  of 
the  only  form  of  intellectual  and  practical  activity  which  is 
susceptible  of  universal  acceptance.  The  utter  collapse  of  the 
theological  and  military  regime  was  really  favourable  to  this 
tendency,  as  it  evidenced  the  want  of  a  synthesis  based  on 
positive  science  and  peace.     In  the  latest  phase  of  the  Western 


Cmp.  I.]  THEORY  Of  THE  GREAT  BEING.  27 

revolution,  the  twofold  movement  of  destruction  and  reconstruc- 
tion threw  up  successively  the  germs  from  which  immediately 
sprang  the  systematic  conception  of  the  Great  Being. 

This  capital  advance,  marking  as  it  did  the  point  at  which  ^^""gii^Y^Jj. 
the  intellect  at  length  overtook  the  feeling  of  man,  was  due  p^'^^Ldb 
to  the  undesigned  conciurrence  of  three  general  propositions,  j''^"' ^ '"'■ 
enunciated  respectively  by  Pascal,  Leibnitz,  and  Condorcet. 
Although  originating  solely  in  the  scientific  evolution,  the 
first  was  an  adequate  expression  of  the  convergence  of  the 
whole  past  towards  the  present,  as  it  likened  the  developement 
of  the  race  to  that  of  an  individual.  The  second  perfected  the 
inchoate  notion  of  the  progression  which  concerns  man,  by 
making  the  future  depend  on  the  present.  The  two  together 
formed  the  introduction  to  the  third,  the  logical  conclusion 
from  which  is  the  direct  conception  of  Humanity,  for  it  conceives 
of  the  species  as  one  single  people*  The  three  are  the  imme- 
diate precursors  of  the  definitive  systematisation  reserved  for 
me,  the  systematisation  in  which  one  and  the  same  principle 
is  to  serve  as  the  condensed  expression  of  the  feelings,  thoughts, 
and  actions  peculiar  to  Humanity. 

The   Grreat  Being  is  the  whole  constituted  by  the  beings,  Definition  of 

o  J  o  5    Humanity. 

past,  future,  and  present,  which  co-operate  willingly  in  perfect- 
ing the  order  of  the  world.  Every  gregarious  animal  race  has 
a  natural  tendency  to  such  co-operation.  But  it  is  only  the 
paramount  race  on  each  planet  that  can  attain  unity  as  a  race, 
for  its  ascent  to  power  necessarily  checks  that  of  the  lower 
animals.  This  justifies,  in  our  systematic  definition  of  the 
composite  being,  our  omitting  its  peculiar  species.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  spontaneity  of  the  co-operation  and  its  external 
end  are  clearly  indispensable  conditions,  if  it  is  to  be  consistent 
and  permanent.  Eliminating,  then,  what  may  be  understood 
without  indistinctness,  we  confine  our  definition  of  the  Great 
Being  to :  the  continuous  whole  formed  by  the  beings  which 
converge.  In  this  condensed  form  I  shall  often  make  implicit 
use  of  the  definition,  leaving  it  to  the  reader  to  reintegrate  the 
terms  suppressed. 

Starting  from  this  definition,  the  theory  of  the  Great  Being  Theory  of 
resolves  itself  into  CI)  its  constitution,  (2)  its  position,  (3)  its     ™^'^"'''" 
destination. 

And  first  for  ifs  constitution.      The  great  point  is  to  dis-  (i)  Consti- 
tinguish  between  the  peculiar  constituent  elements,  immediate  Distinction 


28        SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE   POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

between        or  mediate,  of  the  supreme  organism,  and  the  agents  or  repre- 
and  agents,    sentatives  it  requires.     Every  being  must  be  composed  of  parts 

similar  to  itself,  so  Humanity  is  divisible  primarily  into  States, 

then  into  Families,  never  into  individuals. 
Theekmenta         Our  raco  was  educated  under  a  synthesis  at  once  egoistic 
to  the  whole,  and  absolute,  succeeded  by  a  period  of  anarchy.     Hence  its 

to  Human-       ,,„  .  i,.,i  xj 

ity.  lack  of  conceptions  and  formulas  adequate  to  express  a  reahty 

which  has  slowly  dawned  upon  us.  The  consequence  is  a 
proneness  to  look  on  the  parts  as  more  important  than  the 
whole,  though  the  whole  alone,  and  not  the  parts,  admits  of 
completeness  and  permanence.  The  true  Synthesis  will  modify 
this  frame  of  mind  and  enable  us  to  overcome  our  earlier 
habits,  so  that  the  opposite  tendency,  as  alone  consistent  with 
the  Positive  spirit,  will  become  natural  to  us.  Familiar  as  we 
shall  then  be  with  the  idea  of  Humanity,  in  this  new  state  of 
regenerated  mental  power  we  shall  constantly  refer  to  that 
idea  the  subordinate  ideas  of  People  and  even  of  Family,  in 
obedience  to  the  principle  of  passing  from  the  more  definite  to 
the  less-  definite  conception.  Even  now  it  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  this,  as  it  is  the  course  we  spontaneously  adopt  in  the 
case  of  the  animals  :  we  refer  them  to  the  human  type,  at  least 
in  regard  to  their  principal  attributes.  By  a  like  process  in 
the  case  of  our  own  species,  we  judge  each  family  by  the 
standard  of  the  people  of  which  it  is  a  part.  That  we  do  not 
adopt  this  course  with  nations  is  owing  solely  to  the  fact  that 
we  do  not  adequately  realise  the  highest  form  of  human 
existence. 

Hnmanity  That  highest  form  is  in  fact  the  only  one  of  which  we  can 

alone  not  ^  .  p 

indistinct      lorm  a  Conception,  free  at  once  from  indistinctness  and  arhi- 

nor  arbi-  .  .      . 

trary.  trarmess.     All  partial  associations,  on  however  vast  a  scale,  are 

but  parts,  and  parts  inseparable,  save  by  a  process  of  abstraction, 
from  the  whole  race.  The  limits  which  seem  natural  to  the 
several  nations,  or  even  families,  are  but  the  expression  of  those 
relations  which  have  hitherto  excited  attention.  But  if  we 
take  into  account  all  their  real  relations,  direct  and  indirect, 
we  see  that  the  distinctions  between  them  have  no  real  foun- 
dation in  nature.  At  any  rate  we  may  assert  confidently  that 
the  contact  between  the  nations  has  become  so  extended  at  the 
present  time,  that  no  one  is  really  separable  from  the  others. 
If  it  seem  capable  of  separate  existence,  it  is  to  the  detriment 
of  its  true  attributes,  moral,  intellectual,  and  even  physical,  all 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  29 

of  which,  in  their  different  degrees,  are  affected  by  the  con- 
tinuous reaction  of  the  whole  upon  its  parts.  The  remark  is 
still  more  applicable  to  families  ;  each  family  is,  to  begin  with, 
inseparable  from  the  people  to  which  it  belongs. 

The  race  alone,  then,  admits  of  a  clear  and  precise  defini- 
tion ;  the  subordinate  associations  prepare  that  definition  by 
their  mutual  relations  and  by  familiarising  us  with  those  rela- 
tions. Each  of  them  has  been  the  nucleus,  actual  or  virtual,  of 
Humanity,  and  will  never  lose  its  value  as  an  aid  to  its  less 
systematic  conception.  The  two  essential  attributes  of  all 
social  existence,  solidarity  and  continuity,  are  necessarily  attri- 
butes of  the  lower  forms  of  that  existence;  we  meet  them  there, 
not,  it  is  true,  as  perfectly  developed,  but  more  within  our  grasp. 
Thus  it  is  that  the  Family  and  the  Country  will  always  be,  to 
the  intellect  no  less  than  to  the  heart,  indispensable  introduc- 
tions to  Humanity.  But  in  systematic  education,  in  default  of 
which  the  process  is  incomplete,  we  must  henceforth  invert  the 
order ;  now  that  we  have  reached  the  full  conception  of  the  Great 
Being,  we  may  spread  it  even  to  our  children,  without  retracing 
the  series  of  unsystematised  efforts  originally  required  for  its 
elaboration.  The  essential  point  is  to  use  more  skilfully  the 
power  inherent  in  feeling  to  outstrip  the  generalising  of  the 
intellect,  a  result  ensured  in  the  Positive  system  of  education 
by  placing  it  throughout  under  the  proper  natural  control  of 
the  sex  in  which  feeling  is  predominant. 

The  conclusion  we  have  reached  is  this :  we  definitively  ?™™'y 

•^     mdi  risible. 

look  on  the  Family  and  the  State  as  each  in  due  order  an  intro- 
duction to  Humanity ;  we  do  not  consider  this  indivisible  being 
as  composed  of  elements  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word.  The 
philosophical  conception  once  sufficiently  accepted,  the  priest- 
hood will  abandon  any  formal  definition.  It  is  needed  now  as 
against  the  extraordinary  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  any 
movement  in  a  synthetical  direction  by  the  anarchical  spirit  of 
analysis  which  prevails. 

Further   we  must  not  forget  that  the  highest   existence,  Humanity 

"  f^.  subjpct  to 

equallv  with  the  lower  forms  of  vitality,  is  subject  to  the  two  the  law  of 

^  •}  11  growth  and 

laws   of  growth   and  improvement,  these  phases  being   more  the  law  of 

1  ,  TT  11       improve- 

marked  in  the  more  complex  organism.     Hence  a  new  obstacle  ment.  it 

,  must  there- 

to our  ffrasniner  the  idea  of  a  being  of  so  pre-eminently  relative  forebeaduit 

a       r      a  r  -i     i  ■        n  before  it  can 

a- character,  so  long  as  we  are  under  the  sway  oi  habits  formed  be  rightly 
under  the   absolute  Synthesis.     They  lead  us  to  forget  that 


30        SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUBE  OF  MAN. 

every  living  being  must  be  judged  by  its  adult  state,  whilst  in 
the  case  of  Humanity  we  have  as  yet  before  us  only  its  child- 
hood and  its  adolescence.  This  explains  why  it  is  that  the  idea 
of  the  Great  Being  could  not  effectually  assert  itself  previously ; 
it  marks  the  opening  of  our  mature  existence ;  it  is  an  evi- 
dence that  its  preparatory  stages  are  past.  But  henceforth,  in 
the  light  of  that  conception  we  can  appreciate  the  Normal  state 
by  the  conjoint  aid  of  the  previous  periods,  sufficiently  to  ensure 
a  truly  rational,  as  opposed  to  an  essentially  empirical  develope- 
ment. 
The  minis-  The  peculiar  difficulties  attendant  on  its  acceptance  once 

ters  of  Hu-  ^  ^ 

mauity.  ,  fairly  overcome,  the  hardest  point  remaining  in  the  theory  of 
the  Great  Being  is  the  right  estimate  of  individuals  as  its 
ministers.  An  uninterrupted  service  on  their  part,  either  as 
agents  or  even  as  representatives,  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
collective  existence  in  any  form.  No  association  could  act,  or 
make  itself  felt,  except  through  individuals.  As  this  is  clear 
for  the  Family  and  the  Country ;  a  fortiori  must  it  hold  good 
of  Humanity.  In  this  condition  we  find  the  primary  source  of 
the  attributes  and  the  difficulties  which  alike  inhere  in  the 
very  idea  of  a  composite  existence. 
The  problem  To  Combine,  and  that  persistently,  concert  with  indepen- 
combine        deuce  is  the  capital  problem  of  society,  a  problem  which  reli- 

concert  with        .  i  t        i  •  -n  ,  n  ^  .  , 

indepen-  giou  aloue  cau  soivc,  by  love  primarily,  then  by  faith  as  the 
basis  of  love.  The  superiority  of  Humanity  lies  mainly  in 
this :  that  its  immediate  instruments  are  beings  in  nature  similar 
to  itself,  though  at  a  lower  stage  of  developement,  and  appa- 
rently capable  of  standing  alone.  On  the  other  hand,  as  such, 
they  tend  to  separate,  losing  sight,  in  an  exaggerated  sense  of 
their  own  importance,  of  the  absolute  dependence  of  the  parts 
on  the  whole.  The  danger  exists  in  the  best  constituted  society; 
in  periods  of  anarchy  it  takes  such  proportions  as  at  the  present 
time  to  be  the  main  hindrance  to  the  advent  of  the  Great 
Being.  And  yet  the  danger  to  society  would  be  equally  great 
if  concert  could  ever  succeed  in  stifling  independence.  Dis- 
tinctness then,  no  less  than  convergence  of  effort,  being  an 
essential  condition  of  human  co-operation,  the  great  problem 
ultimately  comes  to  this,  how  to  reconcile  Order  and  Progress, 
universally  held  by  Antiquity  to  be  incompatible.  Of  the  two 
dangers,  however,  the  greater  is,  it  must  be  allowed,  the  excess  of 


dence. 


Chav.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  31 

I  independence ;  with  few  and  transient   exceptions  that  from 
excess  of  concert  is  less  urgent. 

It  follows  from  this  discussion  of  the  question  that  the  exis-  geMratum 
tence  of  the  Great  Being  requires,  as  its  necessary  basis,  that  oSe  p^t 
the  .actual  generation  be  in  permanent  dependence  on  the  two  f"tire.^con- 
subjective  portions  of  Humanity,  its  past  and  its  future  genera-  *'°"*5'' 
tions.      In  the  past  we  have  the  source,  in  the  future  the  aim, 
of  the  active  service  rendered  by  the  present.     Man  always 
labours  for  posterity,  impelled   thereto  by  the  labour  of  his- 
ancestors,  who  have  handed  down  to  him  the  materials  with 
which,  the  processes  by  which,  he  works.     It   is  his  highest 
privilege  that  the  individual  can  perpetuate  himself  indirectly 
in  a  subjective  state,  if  whilst  actually  living  his  course  has 
left  worthy  results.     Thus,  even  from  the  very  earliest  begin- 
ning, arose  the  idea  of  Continuity  properly  so   called,  an  idea 
more  really  characteristic  of  man  than  mere  Solidarity.     Con- 
tinuity implies  that  our  successors  continue  our  service  as  we 
continued  that  of  our  predecessors. 

The  Family  by  its  very  constitution  manifests  this  primary  continuity 
attribute  of  every  composite  existence,  the  children  represent-  Family. 
ing  the  future,  the  elders  the  past,  both  in  immediate  depend- 
ence on  the  members  in  full  vigour.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
chief  historical  period,  the  century,  equivalent  to  the  length  of 
human  life  in  the  normal  state,  is  subdivided  into  three  gene- 
rations, the  object  being,  that  the  active  portion  of  any  society 
may  be  in  close  connection  with  the  two  which  can  understand 
it,  a  conception  which  had  dawned  on  the  old  friend  mentioned 
in  the  general  preface  of  the  work. 

To  simplify  this  dependence  and  give  greater  precision  to  continuity 
the  notion,  we  should  now  suppress  the  second  subjective  element,  the  past  and 
the  element  of  the  future,  which  indicates  the  end  of  human 
co-operation,  but  does  not  affect  the  question  of  its  origin,  or 
its  exercise.  Eeduced  to  this  dual  form,  the  sphere  of  con- 
tinuity is  the  connection  between  the  representatives  and  the 
agents  of  Humanity.  The  dead  are  her  representatives,  the 
living  her  agents;  since  the  dead  stand  pre-eminent  in  dignity, 
the  living  are  superior  in  efficiency. 

The   direct   service   of  the    Great  Being  is  the  exclusive  The  read. 
appanage  of  our  objective  life  ;  but  the  excellence  of  Humanity  tive  exist-"' 
can  only  be  worthily  shown  by  its  subjective  and  eternal  exis-  ™°^' 
tence.     Our  nature  needs  to  be  purified  by  death  for  its  higher 


32 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  Dead 
represent 
Humanity. 
Superiority 
of  the  sub- 
jective life. 


Necessity  of 
theobjective 
life. 


attributes  to  be  seen  ;  they  stand  out  then  clear  of  the  grosser 
accompaniments  which  previously  obscured  them.  In  death 
alone  can  we  attain  the  sublime  transformation  towards  which 
our  animal  nature  tends.  The  cerebral  life,  in  constant  de- 
pendence on  our  organic  life,  seems  ordinarily  to  have  no  other 
function  than  to  strengthen  and  perfect  this  last.  And  yet  the 
higher  parts  of  man's  nature,  his  affections,  thoughts,  and  even 
actions,  all  have  a  relative  function,  all  look  to  the  collective 
organism  and  reject  a  mere  individual  purpose,  in  proportion  as 
the  animal  life  attains  fuller  developement.  Social  life  adf 
vances  in  the  same  direction  towards  that  state  in  which  the 
body  becomes  simply  the  support  of  the  brain,  whilst  the 
direct  action  of  the  brain  becomes  the  characteristic  of  our  nature. 
The  change  indicated  is  not,  however,  fully  realised  till  we 
reach  the  subjective  life,  which  at  once,  by  Arirtue  of  such  a 
power,  becomes  our  ideal  in  the  objective. 

In  two  senses,  then,  the  living  are  brought  more  and  more 
under  the  patronage  of  the  dead,  the  dead  being  at  once  their 
protectors  and  types.  The  dead  alone  can  represent  Humanity; 
they  collectively  really  constitute  Humanity  ;  the  living,  born 
her  children,  as  a  rule  become  her  servants,  unless  they  de- 
generate into  mere  parasites.  Granting  it  possible  to  form  a 
judgment  of  the  objective  life  during  its  course,  it  seldom  is  so 
fruitful  in  results  as  to  secu:re  its  main  achievement  from  being 
obscured  by  subsequent  degeneration.  Till  it  be  ended,  even 
in  the  best  men,  the  true  attributes  of  our  nature  cannot  fully 
assert  themselves ;  we  have  to  make  constant  allowance  for  the 
defects  due  to  the  necessities  of  our  physical  constitution.  The 
true  sphere  of  the  soul's  superiority  is  the  subjective  life ;  that, 
apart  from  exceptional  cases  of  reprobation,  belongs  exclusively 
to  such  of  its  functions  as  are  assimilable  by  others,  the  purely 
personal  elements  no  longer  interfering. 

No  amount  of  superiority,  however,  can  call  the  subjective 
life  into  existence,  or  give  it  permanence;  for  this  it  is 
dependent  on  the  objective.  The  living,  it  is  true,  ai-e  subject 
to  the  sway  of  the  dead,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  dead  cannot 
exercise  their  power  save  through  the  medium  of  the  living, 
though  it  is  not  open  to  the  latter  to  refuse  their  co-operation 
even  when  rebelling  against  the  inevitable  yoke.  The  objective 
life  is  direct  and  complete,  its  chief  characteristic  is  will ;  the 
subjective  passes  imder  the  empire  of  fate.     The  function  of 


S' 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  33 

the  dead  is  to  form  the  immoveable  foundation,  that  of  the  living 
to  introduce  the  secondary  modifications  of  man's  destiny.  The 
direct  service  of  Humanity,  then,  has  its  source  in  the  will,  the 
condensed  expression  of  all  our  brain  action  ;  for  the  will,  in  its 
proper  sense,  combines  the  impulse  given  by  the  heart  with  the 
light  derived  from  the  intellect  and  the  guidance  furnished  by 
the  character.  And  the  will  has  a  natural  safeguard  against 
caprice,  in  that  its  efiBciency  depends  on  the  maintenance  of  the 
subordination  of  the  living  to  the  dead.  Emancipated  from 
this  control  the  will  loses  its  power  for  good,  and  becomes  a 
mere  soiirce  of  disturbance. 

Our  conception  of  the  constitution  of  the  Great  Being  re-  inoorpora- 
mains  defective  unless  we  associate  with  man  all  the  animal  animaisinto 
races  which  are  capable  of  adopting  the  common  motto  of  all 
the  higher  natures  :  Live  for  Others.  Without  the  animals,  the 
Positive  Synthesis  could  but  imperfectly  form  the  permanent 
alliance  of  all  voluntary  agents  to  modify  the  external  conditions 
of  our  life  so  far  as  they  are  modifiable.  Since  the  close  of  the 
fetichist  period  there  has  been  a  growing  inability  on  the  part 
of  the  provisional  religion  to  sanction  this  coalition,  though  its 
utility  has  been  constantly  on  tlie  increase.  It  was  reserved 
for  Positivism  to  organize  it  by  recognizing  as  integral  portions 
of  the  Grreat  Being  the  animals  which  voluntarily  aid  man, 
whilst  eliminating  its  unworthy  parasites  in  human  form.  The 
service  rendered  by  the  animals  is,  it  is  true,  indirect,  for  it  is 
in  two  senses  individual,  there  entering  into  it  no  consciousness 
of  a  social  function ;  yet  as  voluntary,  we  are  justified  in  our 
recognition  of  it. 

The  constitution  of  the  Great  Being  sufficiently  explained,  m)  situa- 

.11  I'  ',11  •     i  •-,•  !•  tio°  of  Hu- 

the  next  step  in  elaborating  its  theory  is  to  examine  its  situation,  manity. 
and  subsequently  its  destination.     The  first  of  the  three  points 
was  the  hardest,  so  that  I  may  be  briefer  in  my  treatment  of 
the  two  others. 

It  is  a  strict  consequence  of  the  reality  of  its  existence  that  Humanity 
Humanity  is  more  dependent,  as  more  complex,  than  any  other  ^pmdent 
being.     Freed,  so  far  as  the  subjective  condition  is  concerned,  man  order. 
from  the  laws  of  the  outer  world,  her  never-ceasing  subjection 
to   the   laws  of  the   social  or  moral  world  is   but  the   more 
distinctly  seen.     Although  this  subjection,  owing  to  its  higher 
degree  of  complication,  could  not  be  understood  till  last,  it  was 

VOL.  IV.  D 


34     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN, 


Dependent 
also  on  the 
external. 


Humanity 
dependent, 
and  still 
more  so  her 
individaal 
servants. 


This  depend- 
ence the 
source  of 
greatness. 


felt  before  any  other,   more  particularly  in  reference  to  the 
moral  laws. 

But  Humanity,  whilst  bound  by  laws  of  her  own,  submits, 
for  she  has  an  objective  basis,  to  the  laws  of  our  bodily  existence, 
the  laws  that  is  of  vitality ;  nay,  further,  she  submits  to  the 
laws  of  the  outer  world,  the  laws  of  that  material  order  in  the 
midst  of  which  man  lives  and  works. 

The  laws  of  vitality  make  themselves  constantly  felt  in  those 
conditions  of  organic  life  on  which  ultimately  depend  the  extent 
and  the  exercise  of  all  our  faculties,  during  life  in  the  first 
place,  and  consequently  after  death.  Nay,  more,  the  G-reat 
Being  can  never  escape  the  sad  fate  which  often  deprives  it 
through  some  flaw  in  these  conditions  of  its  best  servants,  their 
highest  powers  yet  unexerted.  As  for  the  laws  of  the  outer 
world,  it  is  equally  impossible  not  to  recognise  their  power,  for 
though  less  direct,  it  is  more  beyond  our  intervention. 

As  the  economy  of  things,  then,  is  such  that  increase  of 
dignity  implies  increase  of  dependence,  the  peculiar  eminence 
of  the  Great  Being  subjects  it  to  all  the  necessary  conditions  of 
existence  without  exception.  Still  less  independent  are  its 
servants,  indulge  what  anarchical  illusions  they  may  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  will,  which  is  the  distinct  feature  of  our 
objective  life.  For  with  it  they  are  subject  to  the  external 
conditions,  whether  inorganic  or  vital,  as  they  are  to  the  statical 
and  dynamical  laws  of  the  collective  existence.  But,  besides, 
they  are  always  subject  to  the  action  of  the  body  upon  the 
brain,  'an  influence  we  need  not  take  into  account  in  the  social 
economy,  neutralized  as  it  there  is  by  individual  differences,  hut 
which'  cannot  but  deeply  affect  the  economy  of  the  individual. 
Without  any  break,  then,  the  empire  of  will  is  subordinate  to 
that  of  necessity. 

Accept  it  in  a  right  spirit,  and  in  this  very  dependence  lies 
the  chief  source  of  our  true  greatness.  I  have  shown  in  the 
last  volume,  that  the  attribute  of  omnipotence  introduces  a 
radical  contradiction  into  the  idea  of  God,  from  the  impossi- 
bility of  reconciling  omnipotence  with  wisdom  and  goodness. 
Compare  the  two  cases  and  we  see  more  distinctly  the  logical 
connection  between  the  dignity  and  the  dependence  of  the  true 
Great  Being.  The  condition  of  unity  for  man  is  complete 
submission  ;  without  it,  as  I  have  shown  over  and  over  again, 
his  feelings  would  be  ill-regulated,  his  thoughts  incoherent^,  his 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  35 

actions  a  mere  source  of  disorder.  We  may  regret  that  the 
order  of  things  is  not  more  within  man's  power  to  alter.  But 
true  wisdom  forbids  our  wishing  it  to  be  in  any  part  open  to 
indefinite  modification^  As  we  advance,  so  far  from  shrinking 
from  this  inevitable  yoke,  we  extend  its  range  by  paying  to 
human  institutions  the  obedience  we  cannot  refuse  to  the  laws 
of  nature. 

These  considerations  lead  me  to  the  concluding  part  of  the   (m)  Desu- 

y^  T-*  1  •  •  t*      1  1  nation  of 

theory  of  the  Great  Being,  the  examination  of  the  destination  Humanity. 
which  its  situation  assigns  it.  That  destination  is,  in  truth,  to 
give  full  effect  to  the  action  of  will,  in  modifying,  so  far  as  they 
are  modifiable,  the  conditions  to  which  it  is  necessarily  subject. 
Even  when  beyond  its  power  to  modify,  they  call  for  constant 
exertion  on  its  part — intellectual  and  active  exertion — the 
better  to  accommodate  itself  to  them.  Its  main  task,  liowever, 
is  the  effecting  the  modifications  within  the  scope  of  human 
will,  which  the  secondary  arrangements  of  the  world  around  us 
always  admit,  with  the  exception  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
heavens.  Our  power  in  this  respect  increases  as  the  phenomena 
become  more  complex  and  higher,  a  compensation,  though  an 
imperfect  compensation,  for  the  disadvantages  attendant  on  the 
increase  of  dependence. 

On  this  view,  the  action  of  the  Great  Being  has  for  its  main  Proper 
object  the  perfecting  the  order  of  man's  world,   for  the  indi-  action  the 
vidual  as  well  as  for  society.     Hence  it  is  that  human  institu-  order, 
tions  are  so  mixed  up  with  the  laws  of  nature,  that  by  a  grave 
mistake  the  dominion  of  the  one  is  often  confounded  with  that 
of  the  other  two  provinces.     Now,  the  rules   of  man's  creation 
depend  for  thei-r  value   entirely  on  their  having  as  their  sub- 
stratum natural  arrangements,  the  legitimate  sway  of  which  it 
is  their  function  to  increase. 

Such    a   destination   is   peculiarly   that   of  the   future    of  TUsmost 
Humanity,  her   systematic  existence.     Yet  so  appropriate  is  it  the  Future, 
to  the  Great  Being,  that  even  in  the  past,  its  age  of  empirical  the  Past. 
effort,  with  admiration  we  see  how  largely  it  achieved  it.     Its 
instinct  led  it  to  create :  first,  the  Gods  of  antiquity,  then  the  one 
I    God  their  heir,  as  the  respective  guides  of  the  second  period  of 
its  childhood  and  its  youth.     The  praises  offered  in  all  sincerity 
to   these  subjective  guardians  are  so  many   acts   of  indirect 
homage  to  the  instinctive  wisdom  of  Humanity.     In  substi- 
I     tuting  rational  for  empirical  grounds,  the  Positive  religion  will 


36      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  PUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


This  theory 
is  the  basis 
for  an  ab- 
stract and 
concrete 
view  of  the 
Positive 
Religion  and 
the  Life  in 
accordance 
■with  it. 


Synthetical 
power  of  the 
theory. 


Its  future 
cfflcacy  may 
be  estimated 
by  tlie  re- 
sults already 
attained. 


give  a  new  being  to  this  gratitude,  and  a  thorough  sanction, 
for  that  obligation  rests  upon  it  to  see  that  no  one  of  the  states 
through  which  the  Great  Being  has  passed  lacks  its  due  appre- 
ciation. In  its  full  maturity,  its  direct  and  deliberate  care  for 
its  true  servants  will  be  the  object  of  just  admiration.  This 
habitual  attitude  of  our  minds  will  naturally  deepen  the 
respect  deserved  by  its  indirect  and  instinctive  efforts  to 
raise  itself,  in  its  earlier  life,  when  the  agents  it  had  at  its 
disposal  were  invariably  blind,  and  often  intractable. 

Such  is  the  theory  which  forms  the  foundation  of  our 
construction.  Sketched  with  sufficient  precision  at  the  outset 
of  this  work,  in  the  subsequent  volumes  it  was  supported  by 
statical,  and  completed  by  dynamical  considerations,  so  as  to 
demand  in  the  present  place  nothing  more  than  a  definitive 
systematisation.  It  forms  a  general  basis,  from  which  we  must 
now  proceed  to  explain  the  whole  system  of  the  true  rehgion, 
and  with  it  the  life  which  that  religion  is  to  regulate.  The 
full  success,  however,  of  this  twofold  picture  depends  on  this 
condition :  that  it  present  two  views  in  succession,  the  first 
abstract,  dealing  with  human  nature  in  each  of  its  leading 
aspects ;  the  second  concrete,  dealing  with  the  actual  combina- 
tions of  those  aspects  in  their  most  important  forms. 

First,  however,  the  power  for  synthesis  inherent  in  the  pre- 
ceding theory,  must  be  distinctly  drawn  out. 

Its  value  in  this  respect  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  the 
Great  Being  offers,  by  its  very  constitution,  the  best  type 
6f  uuity ;  its  composite  nature  precluding  divergence,  giving 
full  scope  to  convergence.  The  offspring  of  the  cooperation  of 
the  race  stimulates  and  invigorates  cooperation  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  idea.  In  constant  submission  to  the  primary  order, 
it  condenses  and  consecrates,  even  whilst  modifying,  that  order. 
'  Endowed  with  equal  power  to  regulate  and  to  unite,  its  empire 
is  the  source  of  unity  in  its  true  servants,  for  it  impels  them  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  highest  existence.  Our  personal 
instincts,  concentrated  in  the  will  peculiar  to  our  objective  life, 
find  in  Humanity  a  guide  free  from  all  capricious  tendencies, 
and  the  more  so  as  all  the  impulses  derived  from  it  are  in  natural 
accordance  with  intelligible  laws. 

Tlie  true  providence  of  man  has  not  yet  been  reduced  to 
system,  yet  we  can  even  now  adequately  understand  what  it 
will  be,  morally,  intellectually,  and  materially.     Besides,  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  37 

measure  of  its  efSciency  may  be  taken  by  looking  to  the 
sum  of  the  results  attained  during  the  minority  of  the  Great 
Being.  Superior  even  then  to  all  real  existences,  it  appears 
originally  placed  in  a  circle  without  issue,  needing,  that  is,  a 
competent  guide,  and  unable  to  find  one  outside  of  itself.  But 
by  its  instinctive  wisdom  it  overcame  this  great  difficulty  by 
a  spontaneous  impulse,  creating  imaginary  guides  and  endowing 
them  oue  after  the  other  with  the  attributes  adapted  to  their 
provisional  function.  Victorious  in  this  trial,  the  being  which 
is  destined  to  regulate  everything  even  then  proved  its  ability 
to  give  regularity  to  its  own  existence,  so  far  as  its  age  and 
situation  allowed.  So  admirable  an  empirical  result  contains 
the  promise,  for  the  near  future,  of  the  great  results  to  be  at- 
tained by  the  wisdom  of  Humanity  when  systematised, — when 
she  has  reached  the  stage  of  developement  at  which  she  can 
take  on  herself  the  guidance  of  her  various  servants,  using  to 
that  end  all  the  means  accumulated  during  her  past  life.  Such 
is  the  primary  source  whence  the  theory  derives  a  religious 
efBcacy,  which  in  the  rest  of  this  chapter  will  appear  under  its 
more  general,  in  the  rest  of  the  volume  under  its  more  special, 
aspects. 

Previously,  however,  to  entering  on  this  exposition  we  have  Relations  of 
to  define  the  normal  relations  of  the  Positive  religion  with  the  reu?ion  to° 
two  capital  modes  of  the  provisional  synthesis.     The  relations  and  Tbeoio- 


gism. 


alistic. 


are  these  :  we  connect  directly  Positivism  with  Fetichism,  not 
excluding  astrolatrical  Fetichism ;  we  eliminate  Theologism, 
monotheistic  Theologism  more  especially. 

It  follows  from  the  several  explanations  which  had  their  Thnoiogism 
place  in  the  last  volume,  that  the  function  of  Theology  was  aeindmau- 
purely  to  prepare  the  way  for  Positivism  in  the  spontaneous 
evolution  of  the  race,  that  it  can  be  no  element  ultimately  of 
the  normal  state,  as  the  two  syntheses  are  incompatible.  Nay, 
I  went  further,  and  showed  that  its  aid  was  ceasing  to  be  avail- 
able henceforward  wherever  an  individual  or  a  nation  could  be 
submitted  to  wise  direction.  Of  the  two  modes  of  causation 
under  the  provisional  synthesis,  it  is  the  second  or  theological 
which,  by  its  introduction  of  imaginary  powers,  becomes  unsus- 
ceptible of  any  modifications  of  the  absolute  tendencies  of  that 
synthesis.  Then  too  becomes  preponderant  its  tendency  to 
egoism,  for  its  Grods  step  between  man  and  Humanity,  binding 
on  him  a  yoke   he  cannot  shake   off,  a  service  at  all  times 


38     SYSTEM   OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

inherently  of  a  personal  character.  Though  created  in  order  to 
extend  the  principle  of  causation  to  the  world  of  man,  they 
preclude  any  social  conception  from  their  incapacity  to  emhody 
even  the  idea  of  solidarity,  much  more  that  of  continuity.  On 
the  contrary,  social  life  is  the  chosen  sphere  of  the  relative 
religion,  and  therefore  it  has  nothing  in  common  with  a  purely 
personal  religion,  which  owed  its  great  social  utility,  in  all 
essential  points,  to  the  wisdom  of  its  priesthood  for  the  time  heing 
— the  priesthood  of  Theocracy  and  the  priesthood  of  Catho- 
licism. Still,  in  the  most  distant  future,  the  servants  of  the 
Great  Being  will  honour,  with  just  honour,  the  guardians  it 
created  to  protect  its  minority. 
FeticViism  Far  different  is  the  relation  of  the  final    synthesis  to  the 

ated.  primeval    system   of  causation.     I    have    already   represented 

Fetichism  as  susceptible  of  an  immediate  connection  with  Posi- 
tivism, with  no  theological  interlude.  Nay,  I  have  stated  that 
the  combination  was  coming  to  be  indispensable  for  the  attain- 
ment of  our  definitive  unity.  The  time  is  come  for  explaining 
the  nature  of  their  accord, 
rnteiiec-  As  an  intellectual  question,  the  primai^y  object  of  this  ulti- 

mate fusion  is  to  fill,  as  far  as  possible,  the  unavoidable  gaps  left 
by  the  Positive  spirit  in  its  empirical  no  less  than  in  its  sys- 
tematic stage.     It  is  essentially  to  the  abstract  coordination  of 
our  conceptions  that  laws  properly  apply;  they  almost  invariably 
fail  to  express  adequately  the  concrete  facts,  even  though  we 
use  inductions  of  practice  to   supplement  the   deductions  of 
theory.     In  such  cases  we  must  have  recourse  to  causes,  as  in 
the  beginning  of  things,  as  a  provisional  colligation  of  facts, 
bringing  Fetichism  to  the  support  of  Positivism.     Not  under 
the  illusion  that  such  accessory  explanation  corresponds  to  any 
reality,  we   avail   ourselves    of  it   to   facilitate   our  necessary 
speculations ;  we  are  justified  in  acting  on  an  instinctive  tendency 
of  om-  nature,  which  may  always  be  reconciled  with  a  true 
rational  method.     A  real  connection  once  formed,  we   throw 
aside  the  temporary  support  we  gained,  for  contemplation  and 
even  meditation,  by  the  fiction  of  an  active  will. 
Esthcticaiiy.         The  value  of  such  a  provisional  hypothesis  is  still  better 
seen  from  the  point  of  view  of  art,  for  estheticaliy.  Positivism 
differs  from  Fetichism  only  in  that  it  pays  its  homage  to  results, 
Fetichism  to  materials.     They  find  a  point  of  accord  naturally, 
in  man's  disposition  to  reverence  in  each  substance  or  phenome- 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  T^E  GREAT  BEING.  39 

non  the  various  uses  to  which  it  may  be  put  by  the  Great  Being 
in  its  wisdom.  Hence  Positivism  will  offer  a  worthy  field  for 
the  display  of  the  poetical  capacity  of  Fetichism,  a  capacity  which 
could  not  pass  the  rudimentary  stage  during  the  infancy  of  the 
race. 

Lastly,  from  the  moral  point  of  view,  the  combination  of  Morauy. 
the  two  Syntheses  is  at  once  easy  and  fruitful  in  results.    Fetich- 
ism,   as    loving   all   things    and   reverencing   all   things,   will 
always  be  adapted  largely  to  aid  Positivism  in  its  grand  func- 
tion of  fostering  tenderness,  and  giving  cohesion  to  submission. 

Thus  it  is  that  in  the  final  religion  we  connect  directly  the  The  two  ox- 
maturity  of  the  Great  Being  with  its  infancy.  Thus  it  is  that  of'Humlnity 
we  reconcile,  as  far  as  possible,  real  laws  with  imaginary  wills,  ""''""^*- 
so  that  they  supply  each  others'  wants  in  all  respects.  Limited 
by  its  nature  to  the  external  world,  Fetichism,  unlike  Theology, 
never  claimed  to  represent  the  world  of  man,  reserved  for  Posi- 
tivism to  grasp  and  to'  regulate.  Fetichism  traced  the  founda- 
tion of  man's  true  wisdom,  in  practice  and  in  theory,  by  its 
institution  of  fatalism.  That  it  made  it  absolute  was  simply 
due  to  its  ignorance  of  modifications,  a  true  view  of  which  was 
left  for  Positivism.  The  primeval  synthesis  and  the  definitive 
religion  rest  on  one  and  the  same  fundamental  principle,  a 
principle  adopted  by  the  instinct  of  the  race  and  then  by  its 
reason  ;  they  agree,  that  is,  in  proclaiming  the  constant  pre- 
dominance of  feeling  over  thought  and  action.  Such  being 
their  natural  affinities,  the  two  extreme  ages  of  Humanity  de- 
served the  definitive  consecration  given  by  their  both  sharing 
in  the  formation  of  its  true  unity.  Their  fusion  with  a  view  to 
complete  that  formation  I  have  just  explained — without  it 
the  true  religion  could  not  satisfactorily  connect  our  future  in 
all  its  stages  with  our  remotest  past — a  past  which  invariably 
recurs  in  the  spontaneous  evolution  of  each  servant  of  Humanity. 

It  might  seem,  however,  that  we  are  inconsistent  in  thus  Nomcon. 
incorporating  Fetichism  with  Positivism  and  excluding  Theo-  exciudfng' 
logism,  springing  as  it  does  from  the  one,  tending  to  the  other.      °°  °^^^' 
But  there  is  no  real  inconsistency,  since  the  two  extremes  admit 
of  direct  contact,  and  will  frequently  be  brought  into  such  con- 
tact, especially  in  individuals.     The  only  ground  for  the  final 
acceptance   of  Fetichism   is    its   perfect   spontaneity.      When 
admitted  it  ceases  to  have  any  connection  with  Theologism, 
which  never  can  accept  the  position  of  inferior  as  regards  Posi- 


40      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  PUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


With  the 
(lid  of  the 
Fetichist  the 
Positive 
doctrine  can 
constnict 
the  ultimate 
nnity,  ab- 
sti-act  and 
concrete. 


Abstract 
View. 

PositiTity 
combines  all 
aspects  of 
human 
existence. 


Positivism 
alone  can 
secure  the 
supremacy 
of  Love. 


tivistn.  In  the  combination  Fetichism,  in  accordance  with  its 
nature,  still  confines  itnelf  to  the  external  world,  and  no  longer 
strays  in  the  direction  of  man's  world.  There  is  this  change, 
however  :  its  domain  was  of  old  purely  concrete,  it  is  now  in  the 
main  abstract,  its  application,  both  in  affection  and  action,  will 
concern  Phenomena  rather  than  substance,  but  without  ever 
separating  the  two. 

Its  deliciency  thus  naturally  and  regularly  supplied,  tha 
Positive  doctrine  is  able,  without  further  preliminary,  defini- 
tively to  organise  human  unity,  the  unity  of  which  I  proceed 
to  give  the  general  characteristics,  by  a  description  at  once  of 
the  Positive  religion  and  life.  That  I  can  describe  them  thus 
simultaneously,  first  from  the  abstract,  then  from  the  concrete 
point  of  view,  is  in  itself  an  indication  of  the  full  completeness 
of  that  unity.  For  hitherto  such  a  conjoint  presentation  has 
been  impossible,  from  the  want  of  sufficient  agreement  between 
theory  and  practice. 

It  is  the  best  note  of  true  Positivity, — the  harmony, 
systematic  but  also  spontaneous,  which  it  introduces  as  a  per- 
manent link  between  the  various  aspects  of  our  personal  and 
social  life.  Ever  bent  on  the  preservation  and  amelioration  of 
the  Great  Being,  the  affections,  thoughts,  and  actions  of  man, 
are,  when  so  harmonised,  brought  as  far  as  possible  under  con- 
trol and  into  concert. 

The  composite  nature  of  Humanity  involves  its  having  as 
its  principle,  love,  the  sole  source  of  voluntary  cooperation. 
The  constant  supremacy  of  feeling  over  thought  and  action 
thus  becomes  the  fundamental  law  of  the  human  consensus. 
Love,  as  the  principle  of  synthesis,  had  been  instinctively  recog- 
nised by  Fetichism,  and  deliberately  sanctioned  by  Theocracy. 
But  apart  from  their  inadequate  estimate  of  the  benevolent 
instincts,  these  two  rudimentary  religious  were  found  irrecon- 
cileable  with  the  ulterior  progress  of  our  intellectual  and  active 
powers.  Their  triumphant  advance  broke  through  the  earlier 
discipline,  but  the  sense  that  they  needed  control  gave  rise  to 
an  admirable  attempt  to  reconstruct  the  supremacy  of  the 
heart.  The  ultimate  result  of  the  effort  was,  however,  to  show 
the  increasing  loss  of  power  in  the  fictitious  synthesis  in  regard 
to  this  capital  problem,  the  true  solution  of  which  necessarily 
devolved  on  the  principle  which  gave  to  reality  the  sanction  of 
utility.     The  gradual  outcome  of  the  unfettered   evolution  of 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  41 

thought  and  activity,  the  positive  spirit  has  a  natural  tendency 
to  restore  to  feeling  its  ascendancy,  the  better  to  place  under 
its  direction  the  normal  developement  of  our  powers. 

The  several  aspirations  evolved  by  the  successive  stages  of  EeaUsesaii 
the  education  of  mankind  thus  find  a  simultaneous  satisfaction,  pirauons.''^ 
however  conflicting  they  may  be  in  appearance,  the  result 
simply  of  the  inadequacy,  of  the  provisional  synthesis.  Ever 
looking  to  the  nature  of  man  in  its  entirety,  the  discipline  of 
Positivism  ought  to  promote  in  an  equal  degree  the  growth  and 
concert  of  all  our  functions.  More  favourable  to  the  intellect 
than  the  civilisation  of  Greece,  as  a  social  system,  it  has  greater 
power  than  Eome  had  to  make  public  life  control  private, 
speculation  depend  on  action ;  whilst  more  than  feudal  Catholic- 
ism does  it  give  the  primacy  to  our  emotional  nature.  Com- 
pletely real,  profoundly  sympathetic,  unceasingly  active,  the 
Great  Being  is  pre-eminently  qualified  to  regulate  without 
obstructing.  It  has  a  direct  tendency  to  discipline  our  wills, 
as  it  forms  us  to  order  by  love,  with  a  view  to  progress.  Its 
nature  asserts  at  once  the  subjective  origin  and  the  objective 
basis  of  the  true  religion.  Sanctioning  as  it  does  the  close 
connection  of  the  three  parts  of  the  soul,  Humanity  as  centre 
makes  the  improvement  of  each  depend  on  the  reaction  upon 
it  of  the  two  others,  founding  thereby  true  unity,  an  unity  as 
stable  as  it  is  perfectible. 

Fully  to  appreciate  in  the  abstract  a  state  which,  however 
near  at  hand,  does  not  admit  of  direct  inspection,  I  must  now 
take  it  in  detail,  dwelling  separately  on  feeling,  intellect,  and 
action. 

And  first  for  feeling.  Unity  in  this  respect,  as  conceived  by  a)  irnity  ot 
Positivism,  has  for  its  basis  the  existence  in  human  nature  of 
the  sympathetic  instincts,  which  found  no  place  in  the  theo- 
logical synthesis.  So  only  can  we  state  in  its  true  form  the 
problem  man  has  to  solve,  the  subordinating  egoism  to  altruism. 
To  these  instincts  we  look  mainly  for  the  solution  of  this 
problem,  and  it  is  their  continuous  growth  under  the  influences 
of  society  which  is  the  one  standard  by  which  to  measure  our 
progress,  ever  unsatisfactory  unless  accompanied  with  this 
growth.  Their  unceasing  search  after  the  true  has  for  its  aim 
the  attainment  of  the  good  under  the  inspiration  of  the  beauti- 
ful, and  their  ascendancy  is  at  once  the  best  stimulus  and  the 
best  regulator  of  all  our  powers.      In  no  degree  oppressive  as 


feeling. 


42      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

regards  the  personal  instincts,  they  offer  those  instincts  the 
legitimate  satisfaction  of  a  noble  purpose. 
DiTcrsityot  The  right  understanding  of  this  moral  unity  necessitates 

tho  sympa- 
thetic in-       our  taking  into  account  the  inherent  differences  between  the 

instincts  of  benevolence.  Arranged,  as  the  whole  hierarchy  of 
our  conceptions  is  arranged,  ojithe  principle  of  decrease  in  energy, 
increase  in  dignity,  the  first  unites,  equals,  and  regulates  the 
present;  the  second  regards  superiors  and  consecrates  the  past; 
tlie  third  looks  towards  inferiors  and  prepares  the  future.  In 
every  social  relation  there  is  room  for  the  free  and  simultaneous 
play  of  the  three ;  but  the  proper  province  of  the  first  is 
private,  that  of  the  third,  public  life,  the  second  alone  being 
common  to  both.  From  the  closest  ties  to  the  widest  relations 
of  man,  they  form,  then,  by  their  union,  a  complete  discipline. 
Attachment  secures  the  growth  of  the  love  on  which  our  whole 
system  rests,  whilst  benevolence  directs  that  love  to  its  true 
end,  universal  love ;  veneration  institutes  subordination,  the 
indispensable  condition  of  stability  in  human  relations. 
Theh- train-  The  preparatory  stage  of  human  existence  hampered  this 

thepreiaia-  discipline,  in  theory  as  in  practice,  yet  in  the  natural  course 
of  things  it  tended  to  prevail,  though  its  rational  accept- 
ance was  reserved  for  the  present  century.  It  had  a  natural 
origin  in  the  fetichist  state,  for  in  Fetichism  the  feelings  of 
man  were  attributed  to  all  things  ;  but  the  doctrine  of  Fetich- 
ism could  give  it  no  sanction,  limited  as  it  was  to  the  outer 
world,  and  the  life  confined  to  the  Family  was  too  narrow  a 
sphere.  Subsequently,  when  theology  and  war  were  dominant, 
the  benevolent  instincts  could  have  but  an  indirect  and  partial 
sway,  for  man's  action  was  destructive,  and  his  creed  egoistic. 
Still  they  grew  even  then,  by  virtue  of  the  extension  of  human 
intercourse  due  to  common  opinions  and  collective  purposes. 
When  Polytheism  was  condensed  into  Monotheism,  the  latter 
declared  them  alien  to  human  nature,  but  in  this  very  rejec- 
tion lay  a  consecration  of  them,  for  it  rested  on  the  superiority 
which  marked  them  out  as  the  special  province  of  the  divine 
will.  The  compression  of  the  personal  instincts  by  the  religion 
gave  a  fuller  ascendancy  at  that  time  to  the  sympathetic; 
although  the  denial  of  them  on  principle  stamped  a  character 
of  selfishness  on  our  whole  moral  culture.  It  was  under  these 
conditions  of  provisional  acceptance  that  they  received  a 
triumphant  recognition  by  the  devotion  to  them  of  the  three 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  43 

finest  chapters  of  the  extraordinary  poem  in  which  Catholicism 
found  its  condensed  expression. 

The  metaphysical  philosophy,  the  prevalence  of  which  is  Their  fate 
due  to  the  indiscipline  of  modern  times,  is  more  adverse  than  times. 
Theology  to  the  free  growth  of  sympathy ;  and  yet  sympathy 
has  grown  with  the  Positive  spirit  even  whilst  the  action  of 
man  wore  a  purely  personal,  his  speculation  a  dispersive, 
character.  The  tendency  of  science  was  to  demonstrate  the 
innateness  of  our  unselfish  affections,  and  industrial  life  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  universal  acceptance  of  their  legitimate 
rule.  Since  the  outbreak  of  the  final  crisis  the  maintenance  of 
moral  order  in  the  midst  of  intellectual  disorder  is  due  solely 
to  the  influence  of  sympathy,  nor  is  there  any  other  possible 
basis  for  the  reorganisation  of  the  West, 

Thus  it  is  that  the  Positive  spirit — the  unfailing  charac-   They nm the 

^  "  true  domaia 

teristic  of  which  is  the  combination  of  the  real  and  the  useful  ot  the  posi- 
tive spirit. 

— finds  at  length  its  chief  sphere,  as  an  intellectual  theory 
and  a  practical  system,  in  the  study  and  the  cultivation  of 
the  benevolent  instincts.  Tlie  true  unity  of  the  individual, 
the  true  unity  of  the  society,  springs  from  their  normal  pre- 
dominance, as  in  them,  and  in  equal  degree,  order  has  its  source, 
progress  its  end.  Ever  ready  to  accept  dutifully  all  that  is 
inevitable  in  our  condition,  they  make  a  noble  resignation  the 
basis  of  our  amelioration,  whilst  they  incessantly  urge  us  to 
wise  exertion.  As  a  consequence  of  the  omnipresent  control 
of  Morals,  they  offer  philosophy  the  soundest  discipline  and 
the  sublimest  object,  to  tlie  exclusion  of  all  idle  speculations 
and  the  concentration  of  our  intellectual  efforts  on  the  continu- 
ous improvement  of  our  nature.  To  poetry  they  throw  open 
its  noblest  field,  as  by  their  aid  it  can  idealize  all  human  ties, 
present,  past,  or  even  future.  Political  action,  recognising 
them  as  supreme,  is  enabled  peacefully  to  carry  out  the  largest 
plans,  by  bringing  all  our  practical  energies  to  bear  on  the 
direct  improvement  of  man's  condition  upon  earth,  in  concert 
with  the  animal  races  which,  as  sympathetic,  are  justly  associated 
with  Humanity.  These  hints  give  a  sufficient  idea  of  the 
general  character  of  the  Positive  order  of  things,  as  a  synthesis 
resting  on  universal  love,  that  love  aided  by  a  faith  susceptible 
of  demonstration. 

And  yet  the  idea  were  incomplete  without  a  direct  examina-  cwef  attri- 
tion  of  the  chief  attribute  of  human  unity,  viz.,  the  necessary  m"an  unity. 


44      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Duty  and 
happiness 
coincident. 


Feeling  to  be 
encouraged 
for  its  own 

sake. 


Living  for 

OthtTlS, 

others  live 
for  us. 


coincidence  of  duty  and  of  happiness,  both  equally  placed  in 
Living  for  Others.  Complete  as  is  the  sanction,  and  natural 
as  complete,  given  by  the  sympathetic  instincts  to  every  right 
exertion  of  our  intellect,  every  right  exercise  of  our  active 
powers,  such  efforts  are  always  urged  as  means  to  an  end, 
the  means  adapted  to  the  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  man's 
position.  The  highest  gratification  they  can  afford  is  derived 
from  their  unavoidable  and  constant  ministration  to  the  Grreat 
Being.  Set  aside  these  wants,  and  man's  happiness,  as  his  true 
unity,  depends  on  his  emotional  nature.  A  woman's  pen  has 
fitly  expressed  this  prerogative  of  man,  and  the  admirable 
expression  is  her  chief  claim  to  immortality,  '  There  is  nothing 
real  in  the  vjorld  but  love.' 

This  maxim  of  Delphine  may  seem  at  first  sight  an  exag- 
geration, yet  the  Positive  religion  must  adopt  it,  to  enforce  the 
conviction  that  it  is  in  feeling  that  lies  the  chief  value  of  feeUng. 
Whilst  speculation  and  even  action  contribute  to  our  happiness 
by  their  results  alone,  and  results  as  dependent  on  external 
conditions  often  elude  us,  the  gratification  we  derive  from 
affection  is  always  direct  and  certain  a.nd  depends  on  ourselves 
alone.  Eeal  happiness,  then,  cannot  reside  either  in  our 
thoughts  or  actions,  but  exclusively  in  our  sympathies,  and 
their  highest  recompense  is  their  existence.  When  once  by  a 
right  exercise  we  have  learnt  to  appreciate  this  sovereign  good, 
we  cease  to  find  satisfaction  as  formerly  in  the  most  successful 
intellectual  or  active  exertions.  We  then  see  that  our  opinions 
and  our  efforts  depend  for  their  main  value  upon  om-  feelings, 
the  only  immediate  sources  of  happiness  and  duty  for  the 
individual  as  for  the  society. 

Thus  realising  the  highest  aspirations  of  theology  in  its 
dreams,  the  kingdom  of  Humanity  is  a  kingdom  of  love,  per- 
fecting our  inward  satisfaction  by  cooperation  from  without. 
Each  makes  others  his  chief  object,  and  as  a  natural  result  gains 
the  support  of  others  in  his  own  need.  But  he  may  not  gain 
it,  and  if  he  gain  it,  it  is  not  the  motive  for  altruism  nor  can 
it  be  its  adequate  reward.  We  are  liable  to  set  too  nduch  store 
hj  such  reciprocity  of  services,  owing  to  habits  contracted  under 
the  egoistic  synthesis,  and  any  over-value  of  it  would  endanger 
the  unity  of  our  sympathetic,  by  stimulating  our  personal, 
instincts.  Even  in  the  anarchy  of  modern  times,  tlie  true  moral 
conception  found  its  spontaneous  expression  in  the  noble  wish 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY   OF  THE   GREAT   BEIXG.  45 

of  the  great  Danton,  '  Perish  my  memory,  only  let  Tny  country 
be  free.' 

Yet  even  in  this  heroic  cry  we  trace  the  idea  that  the  out-  subjective 

1      r-  i.p  -,  ■.  •  immortality 

ward  reward  or  a  great  life  extends  to  its  subjective  immortality,  tte  fitting 
He  who  has  truly  lived  for  others  should  hope  to  live  on,  in,  and  "obie  liie. 
by  others.  This  subjective  return  is  purer  at  once  and  surer 
than  the  objective,  for  it  carries  on  the  services  rendered  and 
perfects  the  judgment  of  those  services.  Under  the  impulse 
given  by  the  Positive  spirit,  spontaneously  and  systematically, 
this  noble  recompense  is  accessible  to  all  who  are  capable  of 
understanding  it  and  deserving  it.  The  unhappy  daughter 
of  the  old  friend  before  mentioned,  a  few  days  before  her  death 
expressed  to  me  naively  her  deep  sense  of  the  value  of  such  a 
recompense  in  a  touching  utterance  which  connects  her  memory 
with  that  of  my  eternal  companion.  She  said  of  her — it  was 
three  years  after  her  death — '  She  is  fortunate  indeed,  she  is 
sure  of  immortality.' 

An  examination  in  detail  of  the  emotional  aspect  of  Posi-  (ii)  inteiiec- 
tivism  was  obligatory  from  its  immediate  connection  with  the 
fundamental  principle  of  true  human  unity.  In  dealing  with 
the  intellect  and  even  with  the  activity  of  man,  I  may  limit 
myself  to  a  clear  explanation  of  their  proper  subordination  to 
feeling.  In  judging  the  altruistic  synthesis  from  the  intellectual 
side,  we  shaU  take  first  its  esthetic  aspect,  then  its  scientific. 

Eising  above  modern  prejudices,  the  Positive  religion  decides  fa)  Art. 
that  in  dignity  art  ranks  above  science,  as  art  is  more  closely 
connected  with  feeling,  science  with  action.  Hence  a  synthetical 
hierarchy,  embodied  in  the  order  of  succession  of  the  principal 
phases  of  education,  which,  common  to  all  equally,  is  first  the 
education  of  the  affections,  then  of  the  esthetic  faculties,  thirdly 
of  the  scientific,  lastly  of  the  practical  capacity.  The  classifica- 
tion is  in  conformity  with  the  principle  of  the  encyclopaedic  scale  ; 
it  is  a  condensed  expression  of  the  natural  affinities  of  our 
various  powers  ;  it  marks  their  serial  order,  and  so  makes  it  easy 
to  compare  them. 

Art  satisfies  the  deeper  wants  of  our  nature  better   than  Moreaympa- 

T       •  n'-i*  jij-  *       thctic  and 

science.     It  is  more  sympathetic ;    it  is  more  synthetic.     At  more  syn- 
the  same  time  it  is  invariably  alien  to  mere  speculation,  and  science, 
leads  directly  to  action  of  the  noblest  kind,  viz.,  the  elevating 
our  feelings  by  their  ideal  expression.  No  other  form  of  existence 
is  as  completely  in  unison  with  the  sacred  formula  of  Positivism, 


46     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE'  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Art, more 
closely  con- 
nected with 
Religion. 


Art  in  edu- 
cation. 


for  an  all-comprehensive  sympathy  is  its  source,  the  highest 
progress  its  aspiration,  the  highest  order  its  basis.  Its  normal 
developement  issues  naturally  in  the  combination  of  independence 
■with  cooperation,  for  its  productions  are  emphatically  individual 
whilst  the  aim  of  those  productions  is  agreement  on  the  widest 
scale. 

It  is  a  common  error  to  overrate  the  ultimate  importance 
of  science  from  regard  to  its  services  as  a  preparation.  So 
long  as  it  was  the  prime  object  to  call  out  our  several  powers, 
the  special  exercise  of  our  scientific  faculties,  as  weakest  in  point 
of  energy,  was  of  importance ;  for  though  weakest,  it  was  to  them 
we  had  to  look  for  the  construction  of  an  objective  basis  for 
human  wisdom.  But  now  that  our  immediate  object  is  to 
regulate  those  powers,  religion  must  employ  art  rather  than 
science,  art  being  the  nearer  to  the  principle  of  unity.  Although 
art  and  science  alike,  tend,  if  cultivated  amiss,  to  stimulate 
linduly  pride  and  vanity,  the  pursuit  of  science  exerts,  besides 
this,  a  more  noxious  moral  influence — an  influence  inseparable 
from  it — in  that  the  concentration  it  demands  discourages 
affection.  Therefore  it  is  that  in  the  normal  state,  science 
must,  by  suitable  means,  be  limited  to  its  strict  function ;  the 
knowledge  of  the  order  of  the  world  sufficient  for  a  dignified 
acceptance  and  wise  modification.  Such  knowledge  is  a  para^ 
mount  necessity  solely  because  of  the  exigencies  of  our  phy- 
sical condition,  binding  us  to  a  form  of  action  which  at  the 
outset  is  egoistic,  whereas,  given  a  situation  so  favoured  by 
nature  that  we  stood  in  no  need  of  science,  art  would  still  have 
an  inherent  charm  and  a  power  to  raise  us.  Even  in  reference 
to  the  objective  construction  we  require  for  wise  action,  art 
contributed  more  than  science  to  the  intelligence  of  the  higher 
and  less  obvious  phenomena,  poetiy  hitherto  having  anticipated 
philosophy  in  stating,  in  outline  at  least,  the  laws  of  om'  intel- 
lectual, and  still  more  those  of  our  moral  nature. 

As  a  part  of  the  system  of  Positive  education  art  must  hold 
equal  rank  with  science.  In  real  life  it  passes  before  science, 
as  all  that  science  gives  us  is  the  rational  basis  for  action  ;  its 
guidance  does  not  enable  us  in  practice  to  dispense  with  the 
complement  of  experience.  With  all  classes,  the  priesthood 
included,  the  mind  will,  as  a  rule,  exert  itself  in  the  esthetic 
rather  than  in  the  scientific  direction,  so  the  better  to  concen- 
trate our  efforts  on  the  knowledge  and  improvement  of  our 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  0:F  THE   GEEAT  BEING.  47 

nature.  Scientific  works  are  seldom  to  be  read  again  even  by 
the  theorician,  whilst  the  creations  of  the  artist  are  the  objects 
of  ever  fresh  admiration.  It  were  superfluous  to  dwell  longer 
on  the  strong  esthetic  tendency  of  a  synthesis,  the  natural 
result  of  which  will  be  the  prevalence  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  dispositions  most  favourable  to  poetry. 

The  history  of  the  past  carries  with  it  the  proof,  that  such  Testimony 
is  the  future  which  awaits  the  Positive  spirit  in  the  normal 
state,  as  since  the  disappearance  of  the  Theocracy  the  master 
works  of  poetry  have  multiplied  in  proportion  as  the  West  dis- 
engages itself  from  the  trammels  of  Theologism  and  war.  The 
creation  of  Positivism  as  a  system  evidences  its  afiinity  for  art ; 
for  art  already  owes  to  it  a  philosophy  of  esthetics,  whereas  true 
thinkers  of  the  metaphysical  school  sought  one  in  vain. 

To  place  in  a  clearer  light  the  decided  superiority,  estheti-  Newmstua- 
caUy  speaking,  of  Positivism,  I  would  indicate  here,  in   general  poetry. 
terms,  the  introduction  of  a  new  series  of  poetical  appliances, 
originating  in  the  perfectly  legitimate  fusion  of  the  Fetichist 
with  the  Positivist  spirit. 

By  the  incorporation  of  Fetiohism,  art  in  its  maturity  re-  subjectiTe 
possesses  the  external  world,  which  in  the  full  sense  it  possessed 
only  in  its  infancy,  and  even  then  its  idealisation  of  it  could  only 
be  inchoate.  Poetry  in  the  Positive  state,  whilst  cultivating  this 
its  original  domain,  will  extend  it  so  as  to  include  phenomena 
no  less  than  beings,  empowered  to  do  so  by  the  general  growth 
of  abstraction  since  the  Fetichist  age.  The  new  field  thus 
opened  requires,  to  be  available,  the  previous  creation  of  sub- 
jective milieus  ;  otherwise,  in  the  cultivation  of  it,  it  would  be 
difficult  as  a  rule  to  avoid  lapsing  into  a  metaphysical  tendency, 
in  essential  antagonism  with  art — a  tendency  to  consider  events 
independently  of  beings. 

In  its  true  idea,  Space  is  the  first  and  hitherto  the  only  space  Mtb- 

^  _  ^  -J     erto  the 

perfect  example  of  this  logical  artifice,  which,  when  interpreted,  oniyin- 
in  an  objective  sense,  gave  rise  to  so  many  errors.  For  Space 
logically  is  to  be  looked  upon  simply  as  an  universal  fluid, 
created  by  man's  instinct,  in  the  infancy  of  his  genius,  in  order 
to  enable  him  to  conceive  of  extension  and  even  of  motion 
independently  of  actual  bodies.  In  default  of  such  a  milieu, 
signs  without  images  would  be  our  only  resource  for  the  abstract 
developement  of  geometrical  and  mechanical  speculations. 
The  long  familiaritj  of  the  western  mind  with  this  primeval 


48     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  philoso- 
phy ot  art  in 
relation  to 
that  of 
science. 


(&)  Science. 


All  Positive 
theories 
must  con- 
verge to- 
wards the 
science  of 
man. 


institution  is  a  hindrance  to  our  due  appreciation  of  its  value, 
yet  we  may  by  imagining  it  in  abeyance,  measure  the  void 
actually  existing  in  the  case  of  all  other  phenomena,  owing  to 
the  want  of  so  powerful  an  instrument.  It  follows  that  we  must 
deliberately  create  for  the  phenomena  of  Physics,  Chemistry, 
nay  even  of  Biology,  the  equivalent  of  the  milieu  which  Space 
offers  us  without  effort  in  the  domain  of  Mathematics, 

In  this  way,  and  in  this  way  only,  can  art  in  its  maturity 
adequately  idealise  the  world  without,  by  giving  life  to  these 
milieus  of  man's  creation,  just  as  in  his  infancy  he  attributed 
life  to  all  the  objects  of  nature.  This  done,  the  philosophy  of 
art  will  be  as  complete  as  that  of  science  ;  as,  in  accordance 
with  its  peculiar  genius,  it  will  organise  its  twofold  empire,  the 
world  and  man,  an  empire  which  it  has  in  common  with  science, 
though  poetically  the  world  is  not  on  the  same  level  with  man. 
Thus  comprehensive,  art  will  be  better  adapted  than  science  to 
explain  and  promote  the  Positive  logic,  for  art  has  exclusive 
competence  in  regard  to  images,  and  in  Positive  logic  it  is 
images  which  bring  signs  into  convergence  with  feelings  in 
order  to  facilitate  thought. 

The  value  of  Positivism  in  regard  to  science  admits  of  a 
less  full  statement  than  its  power  in  regard  to  art ;  since  as  a 
synthesis  resting  immediately  upon  natural  philosophy  it  wiU  he 
certain  to  perfect  the  whole  range  of  scientific  investigations. 
Suffice  it  here  to  indicate  under  its  more  prominent  aspects  the 
influence  of  religion  upon  science,  in  which  it  repays  more  than 
it  received. 

Subject  to  the  inevitable  control  of  moral  science,  all  scien- 
tific theories  cleared  of  misdirected  investigations  take  a  sacred 
and  synthetical  character,  as  being  definitive  portions  of  the 
body  of  Positive  doctrine,  which,  step  by  step,  in  the  natui'al 
course  of  things,  has  been  formed  by  their  contributions. 
Science,  thus  renovated,  regains  with  greater  completeness  and 
stability  the  majestic  unity  it  attained  under  the  fostering  care 
of  the  Theocracy,  so  justly  regretted  by  the  leading  thinker  of 
the  last  half-centuiy.  The  speciality  without  unity,  which  has 
hitherto  been  the  great  feature  of  modern  scientific  enquiry, 
reduces  it  in  truth  wellnigh  to  the  level  of  empiricism,  with  an 
exception  for  Mathematics.  And  even  in  Mathematics,  the 
scientific  character  is  but  too  often  purely  superficial,  since  the 
prevalence   of  the  tendency  to  substitute  the  combination  of 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  49 

Signs  for  the  higher  processes  of  thought,  or  at  any  rate,  to  make 
the  latter  subordinate.  All  the  other  branches  of  natural  philo- 
sophy are  so  completely  given  over  to  anarchy  and  consequent 
retrogression,  that  religion  alone,  with  its  power  of  direction  and 
repression,  can  introduce  discipline  and  prevent  the  dissolution 
of  the  whole  system.  Now,  for  a  state  of  synthesis,  it  is  impera- 
tive that  every  Positive  theory,  normally  viewed,  become  an 
affluent  of  the  science  by  which  man  studies  his  nature  in  order 
to  guide  his  conduct.  For  we  are  still  under  the  dominion  of 
analysis  so  long  as  the  laws  of  the  inorganic  world,  with  their 
complement,  the  laws  of  life,  are  not  referred  directly  to  the 
laws  of  man's  social  and  individual  existence, — the  domain  of 
Humanity,  the  sole  fountain  of  intellectual  unity. 

'  I  can  give  no  better  idea  of  this  convergence  than  by  setting  tms  conver. 
it  forth  in  detail  with  reference  to  the  grand  problem  of  moral  reference  to 

n  I  ■  11  J  •  i^  1        •       thedevelope- 

science,  the  contmuous  developement,  viz.,  of  our  sympathetic  ment  of  the 
instincts,  a  problem  which  of  itself  alone  is  large  enough  to  instincts, 
allow  for  all  wise  efforts,  whether  in  thought  or  action. 

To  begin  with,  the  end  proposed  connects  with  the  whole  of 
active  life,  the  results  of  the  exercise  of  our  feelings  reacting  on 
them  to  raise  them.  For  the  present,  however,  limiting  our- 
selves to  the  purely  intellectual  question,  we  see  that  the  growth 
of  sympathy  depends  on  the  cultivation  of  the  sciences,  even  as 
regards  the  external  order,  in  our  inevitable  submission  to  which 
we  have  a  check  on  egoism,  and  so  an  encouragement  to  altruism. 
Without  forestalling  an  examination  reserved  for  the  third 
chapter,  it  must  be  added,  that  the  contiguity  of  the  organs  of 
sympathy  with  the  apparatus  of  the  intellectual  afibrds  us  the 
means  generally  of  modifying  the  former.  Not  in  contact  with 
the  world  without,  not  in  contact  even  with  the  viscera  of  organic 
life,  it  is  only  indirectly  through  the  intellect  or  activity  that 
they  can  be  influenced.  -  Still,  by  virtue  of  their  peculiar  con- 
nection with  the  organs  of  egoism,  we  can  bring  to  bear  upon 
them,  by  the  agency  of  these  latter,  the  influences  derived  from 
the  nutritive  system.  So  this  practical  problem,  in  which 
Morals  depend  primarily  on  Sociology,  is  in  connection  with 
Biology  in  its  whole  extent,  and  through  Biology  with  the  whole 
of  Cosmology.  Selecting  one  of  the  essential  elements  of  the  Dreams, 
problem  for  special  consideration,  we  reduce  to  system  the  in- 
stinctive tendency  of  the  ancient  world  towards  the  interpreta- 
tion, nay  more,  the  direction  of  dreams ;  for  in  dreams  there  is, 

VOL.  IV.  E 


50    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAX 


The  aid 
ini.iges  -wrill 
bring  to 
science. 


in  the  conjoint  action  of  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  laws, 
a  basis  for  a  valuable  influence. 
Positivism  These  remarks  sufBce  to  show  that,  if  Positivism  discinhnp 

offers  science      -,  *  t  -^^aIj^ucj 

a  better  field  the  Scientific  spirit  to  the  discouragement  of  idle  enquiries  it 
metiiod.  is  solelv  in  order  to  direct  it  to  the  more  difficult  and  the  more 
important  questions,  as  a  more  worthy  field  for  its  full  powers. 
With  a  nobler  object  it  gives  science  new  means,  not  merely 
indirectly  in  the  aid  derived  from  the  mutual  support  of  the 
several  parts  of  the  system,  but  also  directly  by  the  creation  of  the 
true  logic,  left  inchoate  by  its  analytical  treatment. 

Although    art   on   this    point    will   anticipate,    and    even 
always  surpass  science,  science  may  benefit   largely  from  this 
definitive  reduction  to  a  system  of  the  Positive  method.     Hither- 
to, scientific  meditation  has  had  no  help  but  from  signs,  the 
use  of  images  was  purely  subsidiary,  except  in  Mathematics 
under   the  impulse  given  by  Descartes.     When  synthesis  pre- 
vails, images  will  lend  their  powerful  aid  in  aU  abstract  specu- 
lations, in    particular    by  a   larger  introduction    of  subjectire 
milieus,  an  institution  not  less  adapted  to  science  than  to  art. 
The  discipline  of  religion,  however,  must  exert  its  greatest  in- 
fluence, logically,  in  the  systematising  the  reaction  of  the  feelings 
on  the  intellect,  such  reaction  being  due,  as  is  that  of  the  intellect 
on  the  sympathies,  to  contiguity  of  position  in  the  brain.     WMlst 
denying  the  constant  part  taken  in  intellectual  operations  by  the 
affective  impulses,  the  anarchical  thought  of  modem  times  is 
blindly  subject  to  them  so  far  as  the  self -regarding  instincts  are 
concerned,  their  superior  energy  balancing  their  greater  distance 
from  the  speculative  region  of  the  brain.     Their  power  enables 
us  to  understand  what  would  be  that,  purer  and  more  direct 
as  it  is,  of  the  altruistic  instincts,  which  are  certainly  better 
qualified  to  facilitate  and  stimulate  thought  than  the  organic 
stimuli  so  vaunted  by  materialists.     The  admission  that  venerar 
tion  is  indispensable  to  success  in  teaching,  implies  that  it  is 
equally   necessary  in  original  thought,  and  the  recognition  of 
this  fact  will  lead  shortly  to  ajuster  sense  than  was  attained 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  of  the  great  power  over  the  intellect  of  the 
three  instincts  of  sympathy. 

After  adequately  estimating  the  capabilities  of  the  Positive 
religion  from  the  intellectual  point  of  view,  I  have  to  comple% 
the  description  of  the  synthetical  state  in  the  abstract  by  seir 
ting  forth  in  the  general  its  bearing  on  active  life.     In  these 


(iii)  Unity 
in  action. 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  51 

final  remarks,  order  must  be  treated  first,  then  progress,  on  the 
basis  of  a  study  of  concert  and  independence  respectively,  the  com- 
plete combination  of  the  two  devolving  on  the  altruistic  synthesis. 

The   whole    question   of  the  regeneration  of  man's  action  («)   order. 
may  be  reduced  to  this :   how  to  shape  into  a  system  the  spon- 
taneous tendencies  of  modern  industry  to  assume  the  collective 
character.     Sociocracy  in  this  respect  will  fulfil  the  Theocracy  ; 
it  will,  by  judicious  methods,  abolish  the  irrational  and  immoral 
distinction,  provisionally  accepted,  between  private  and  public 
functions.     A  social  order  in  which  everyone  habitually  labours 
for  others,  affords  more  scope  for  social  feeling  than  war,  though 
it  is  in  war  that  such  feeling  originally  finds  its   sphere.     In- 
dustrial life  gives  it  purity  and  consistence,  and  it  gives  more- 
over that  which  it  alone  can  give,  fall  room  for  expansion,  by 
extending  it  from  the  relations  of  citizenship  to   those  of  man- 
kind.    There  is  no  more  distinctive  note  of  the  Positive  religion 
than  its  power  to   deal  with  industrial  activity,  the  sanction  of 
which  in  the  theological  period  was  mainly  due  to  the  priest- 
hood, and  even  the  priesthood  failed  when  the   opposition  of 
supernatural  religion  was  aggravated  by  the  condensation  of  Poly- 
theism into  Monotheism, 

The  organisation  of  industry  has  its  own  difficulties,  but  at  it  is  easier 

•      •  -  1  I'jnii  to  or^janise 

bottom  it  IS  easier  than  the  intellectual  reconstruction  to  which  intastry 
it  must  look  for  guidance".  The  power  derived  from  material, 
is  less  exposed  to  illusions  than  that  based  on  spiritual,  superiority ; 
hence  pride,  nay,  even  avarice,  are  more  amenable  to  discipline 
than  vanity.  To  give  its  new  form  and  direction  to  human 
activity  is,  it  is  true,  the  chief  object  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
priesthood  ;  but  a  far  more  difficult  task  for  the  Positive  religion, 
and  one  far  more  decisive,  if  successfully  performed,  is  the  for- 
mation of  a  competent  priesthood.  The  disorganisation  of  in- 
dustry is  more  thorough  than  that  of  the  intellect,  but  the 
latter  is  at  present  the  more  serious  evil,  as  it  affects  our 
only  available  instrument  for  the  reconstruction  demanded  by 
feeling.  Therefore  it  is,  that  in  the  intellectual  power  of  the 
altruistic  synthesis  we  have  the  guarartee  at  once  and  the 
basis  of  its  competence  in  the  sphere  of  action.  Cooperation, 
the  cooperation  of  contemporaries,  or  even  that  of  successive 
generations,  has  never  been  so  completely  ignored  by  the 
pride  of  the  temporal,  as  it  has  been  by  the  vanity  of  the 
spiritual  power.     Consequently,  the  religion  of  Humanity  once 

E  2 


than  intel- 
lect. 


52     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  JTUTUEE.  OP  MAN. 


fairly  constituted,   it   will   not  be  long  before  it  regulate  the 
social  milieu  most  disposed  to  adojjt  as  final  its  fundamental 
formula. 
Consorva-  Parasites,  as  more  and  more  the  exception,  may  be  put  aside, 

crease  of  the  and,  lu   the  Positive  state,  all  practicians    become  immediate 
treasuve  of     scrvants  of  the  Grreat  Being,  their  service'  regarding  the  wealth 
transmitted  by  its  providence  to  the  present  generation  in  trust 
for  its  successor.     As  this  accumulation  of  former  labour  sufifers 
in  its  transmission  by  the  very  fulfilment  of  its  proper  purpose, 
the  great  point  in  the  service  is  its  perpetuation  by  reproduction. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  continuity  in  industrial  action,  a  con- 
tinuity useless  in   the  case  of  the  intellectual  treasm-e  of  man- 
kind.     But  in  industrial  action,   more  than   elsewhere,  order 
necessarily  implies  progress  as  its  complement,  for  any  develope- 
ment  of  Humanity  had  been  impossible  had  reproduction  not 
been  attended  by  increase,  on  some  scale  or  other.     The  habits, 
however,  formed  by  the  consideration  of  the  productions  of  the 
intellect  which  do  not  lose  by  transmission,  and  in  reference  to 
which  the  spreading  them  should  be  our  great  care,  leads  us  to 
overrate  the  importance  of  increased  production  in  industry  and 
to  underrate  that  of  conservation  of  the  products.     If  reproduc- 
tion, and  there  is  no  other  means  of  preserving  perishable  mate- 
rials, added  nothing,  their  amount  would  soon  be  lessened.    Yet 
as  such  necessary  augmentation  of  the  capital  of  the  race  is  but 
a  fraction  of  the  whole,  a  fraction  constantly  decreasing  in  value, 
the  Positive  religion  should  lay  the  chief  stress  on  industrial 
conservation,  even  in  the  exceptional  cases   where  it  results  in 
no  increase.     Conservation  is  the  primary  duty ;  in  this  respect 
the  requirements  of  practical  life  differ  radically  from  those  of 
intellectual.     Second  to  this  in  difficulty  stands  the  accessory 
function,  the  transmission  of  the  social  capital  with  the  deter- 
mination of  the  share  to  be  allotted  to  the  individual. 

In  order  to  organise  industrial  action  on  these  two  points, 
the  altruistic  synthesis  sanctions  two  coexistent  services,  direc-, 
tion  and  execution,  in  intimate  connection  with  one  another, 
yet  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  normal  condition  of  separa- 
tion, for  the  capacities  they  require  are  distinct,  and  so  is  the 
preparation  for  either.  Humanity  ratifies,  that  is,  the  division 
between  the  capitalist  and  the  workman,  the  gradual  and  spon- 
taneous outgrowth  of  Western  industry,  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  mediaeval  period.     The  adoption  of  this  dual  arrange- 


Tlie  two 
require  two 
distinct  ser- 
vices. 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  53 

ment,  with  its  coiBplement,  the  hierarchy  of  the  patrician  order, 
constitutes  the  chief  actual  difficulty  of  the  regeneration  of 
activity. 

In  this  capital  operation,  the  Positive  religion  will  put  out  its  Government 
power  as  a  social  system,  hy  disciplining  at  once  command  and  dienco  hoth 
obedience,  as  both  equally  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the 
Great  Being,  the  highest  functions  of  which  have  as  their  basis 
industrial  action.  The  industrial  chiefs  are  the  representatives 
of  Humanity,  in  the  sense  of  being  indispensable  as  the  ministers 
of  its  material  providence  ;  the  condensation  they  offer  being  the 
condition  of  its  right  exertion.  Individually  they  may  use 
amiss  the  wealth  committed  to  their  charge,  but  they  do  not 
therefore  lose  their  sacred  character,  unless  the  abuse  be  in 
degree  such  as  to  endanger  the  conservation  of  the  capital  of  the 
race.  StiU  more  immediate,  still  more  tan;^ible,  is  the  honour- 
able service  rendered  by  the  working  classes,  though  it  is  in- 
ferior in  point  of  generality  and  duration.  They  are  the  chief 
depositaries  of  technical  skill ;  the  patrician  should  especially 
cultivate  administrative  capacity.  In  fact,  the  workmen,  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term,  are  to  be  looked  on  as  the  proper  organs 
for  connecting  in  detail  industry  and  science,  as  they  work  out 
in  a  concrete  form  the  theories  of  abstract  science.  All  their 
legitimate  demands,  the  appeal  of  veneration,  to  devotion,  are 
made  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Being,  as  is  but  natural,  seeing 
that  it  entrusts  its  general  representatives  with  the  permanent 
guardianship  of  its  individual  servants. 

For  patrician  and  workman  alike,  the  habitual  sense  of  use-  influence  ot 

n  1  ^    T      •    ■[•  ^^^  habitual 

fulness — an  usefulness  intelligible  to  all — ennobles  and  disciplines  conscwus- 

"  .  .  ,    ness  of  use- 

industrial  existence  by  keeping  it  in  constant  connection  with  fulness. 

Humanity.  ,  Private  life  is  raised  and  strengthened  by  the 
stimulus  thus  given  in  all  directions  to  public  life,  each  taking 
that  degree  of  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  whole  which  answers 
to  his  particular  function. 

As  regards  progress,  the  great  point  in  the  organisation  of  (6)  Progress. 
industry  is  to  combine  concert  with  independence,  ever  respect- 
ing the  spontaneous  character  of  the  services  rendered,  as  a 
consequence  of  the  inherent  gratuitousness  of  human  labour,  the 
wages  of  such  labour  aiming  simply  at  the  replacement  of  mate- 
rials. The  Positive  religion  leads  chiefs  and  subjects  equally,  not 
to  use  force  in  any  dispute  whatsoever ;  all  that  is  admissible  is, 
the  refusal  of  either  party  to  cooperate  with  the  other,  a  refusal 


54     SYSTEM,  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


InduRtry  so 
con?tituted 
fnvours 
feeling  and 
intellect. 


Conorete 
Tiew. 

I.  Constitu- 
tion of  So- 
ciocracy. 

II.  Its  seve- 
ral elements, 


Principles 
cm  which  we 
classifj'  these 
elements. 


not  incompatible  with  the  continuance  of  their  collective  service. 
All  classes  equally,  find  their  main  happiness  in  the  uninterrupted 
play  of  their  sympathetic  instincts,  consequent  on  their  voluntary 
participation  in  the  action  of  the  society.  But  whilst  the  source 
of  human  happiness  is  identical  for  all,  it  admits  variety  of 
adaptation  to  the  diversities'of  capacity  and  situation,  by  a  wise 
application  of  the  education  all  have  in  common.  For  with 
the  inferiors,  attachment  holds  the  first  place,  with  the  superiors, 
benevolence,  the  function  of  the  inferiors  being  favourable  to 
private,  that  of  the  superiors  to  public  life,  whilst  veneration  is 
common,  wealth  respecting  numbers,  numbers  respecting  wealth. 
All  the  relations  of  the  two  rest  on  confidence,  and  involve 
responsibility ;  even  the  material  retribution  of  particular  services 
is  in  every  case  dependent  on  the  free  initiative  of  the  agent. 
The  same  principle  of  confidence  regulates  the  transfer  of 
functions  and  of  the  capital  they  require  for  their  discharge,  and 
so  upholds  the  social  continuity ;  the  retiring  functionary  choosing 
freely  his  successor,  subject  to  the  assent  of  his  immediate 
superior. 

Such  a  constitution  of  industry  allows  it  to  attain  its  fuU 
proportions,  without  ever  weakening  the  moral  source  of  Positive 
unity  or  its  intellectual  basis.  Nay,  the  industrial  life  so  con- 
ceived offers  the  best  guarantee  for  the  sound  growth  and 
expansion  of  feeling  and  intellect,  owing  to  the  natural  inter- 
dependence of  the  several  kinds  of  progress,  the  simplest  and 
lowest  being  always  the  easiest  and  least  uncertain.  This  is  the 
way  in  which  the  Great  Being,  in  its  full  prime,  wiU  take  posses- 
sion of  its  domain,  the  Earth,  marking  its  proprietorship  by 
effecting  all  the  improvements  compatible  with  the  order  of  the 
whole,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  that  particular  action 
must  in  all  cases  be  subordinate  to  the  general  unity. 

The  appreciation  in  the  abstract  of  the  ultimate  synthesis 
ended,  the  rest  of  this  chapter  must  be  devoted  to  an  exposition 
of  the  Positive  state  in  the  concrete,  thus  completing  our  de- 
scription of  human  regeneration.  The  first  point  in  such  exposi- 
tion is  to  determine  the  constitution  of  the  sociocracy  in  the 
general,  afterwards  the  peculiar  character  of  each  of  its  elements 
separately. 

In  classing  these  elements,  we  may  have  regard  either  to  the 
emotional  source  of  the  Positive  religion,  or  its  intellectual  basis. 
The  spontaneous  convergence  of  the  two  modes,  the  one  synthe- 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OP  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  55 

tical,  the  other  analytical,  gives  the  hierarchy  of  Sociocraey  a 
solidity  which  nothing  can  shake.  Further,  we  have  a  general 
verification  of  the  two  in  the  agreement  which,  by  the  nature 
of  the  case,  exists  between  the  constitution  of  society  and  the 
nature  of  the  individual. 

From  the  moral  point  of  view,  society  as  constituted  by 
Positivism  is  the  objective  presentation  of  the  Great  Being.  It 
follows  that  its  constituent  elements  take  rank  by  their  aptness 
to  represent  Humanity ;  that  is  to  say,  by  the  degree  in  which 
their  nature  is  sympathetic.  From  the  intellectual  point  of 
view,  society,  or  the  hierarchy  of  man,  is  the  highest  term  of  the 
ascending  series  formed  by  the  aggregate  of  known  existences. 
Thus  regarded,  the  elements  of  society  must,  equally  with  the 
other  terms  of  the  series,  be  classified  by  their  degree  of  gene- 
rality, the  standard  by  which  throughout  we  measure  the  ap- 
proach to  unity.  We  may  coordinate  them,  by  taking  as  the 
principle  of  comparison  either  sympathy  or  synthesis.  Now  the 
two  modes  are,  in  fact,  equivalent,  sympathy  being  the  source 
of  any  true  synthesis.  We  find  in  language  a  presentiment  of 
this  fundamental  agreement;  language  always  offering  us  a  con- 
nection of  generality  with  generosity,  the  fruitfulness  in  results, 
common  to  both,  being  the  ground  of  the  connection. 

Both  principles  of  classification  point   to  the  distinction  of  (0  women 

f.  .«(-,.  superior  m 

the  sexes  as  the  primary  basis  of  the  constitution  of  Sociocraey.  sympathy. 
For  women,  the  representatives  of  Humanity,  are  both  more 
sympathetic  and  more  synthetic  than  her  servants.  They  are, 
then,  the  higher  in  dignity  ;  in  power  we  cannot  but  reverse  the 
order.  Thus  woman  occupies  the  first  rank  in  Sociocraey,  as  the 
best  personification  of  the  Great  Beingj,  Though  her  intellec- 
tual claims  have  hitherto  been  less  acknowledged  than  her  moral 
advantages,  the  Positive  religion  will  secure  them  the  recognition 
which  is  their  due,  by  distinguishing  what  have  hitherto  been 
confounded  without  enquiry,  capacity  and  cultivation.  If  in 
the  disposition  to  unity  we  have  the  best  measure  of  intellectual 
power,  evidently  woman  is  superior  ;  we  have  only  to  take  into 
account  her  instinctive  tendency  to  consider  morality  in  all 
cases  as  paramount,  morality  being  the  point  to  which  all  our 
conceptions  converge.  But  this  natural  superiority  of  woman 
does  not  admit,  generally,  of  any  systematic  assertion,  from  her 
being  shut  out  from  collective  action,  which  is  adapted  only  to 
the  active  sex. 


56     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  distinc- 
tion of  tlie 
eexes  an- 
swers to 
thftt  between 
private  and 
public  iif  c. 


Distinction 
of  practi- 
cians and 
theoricians. 


Consequen- 
ces of  the 
previous 
divisions. 


In  fact,  we  must  consider  this  first  division  of  Sociocracy  as 
answering  to  the  distinction  between  private  and  public  life. 
Properly  speaking,  women  do  not  form  a  class,  since  they  are 
never  to  be  considered  collectively.  Each  one  of  them,  the 
soul  of  her  own  family,  whilst  taking  no  immediate  part  in  the 
service  of  the  Great  Being,  naturally  represents  that  Being  for 
those  who  serve  it  directly,  and  her  function  is  to  breathe  into 
them  the  dispositions  most  in  harmony  with  their  public  duties. 
Whilst  the  advancement  of  science  or  of  industry  is  the  result 
of  collective  effyrts,  feeling,  the  source  of  unity,  is  evolved  only 
in  the  individual.  Woman,  if  she  is  to  attain  her  full  intellec- 
tual, still  more  her  full  moral,  value,  must  be  concentrated  on 
private  life,  whilst  man's  developement  is  imperfect  unless  he 
look  to  public  life  as  his  true  sphere.  The  pre-eminence 
accorded  to  woman  in  Sociocracy  offers  no  opening  consequently 
for  abuse,  as,  with  here  and  there  a  well-grounded  exception, 
woman  inevitably  sinks  her  claims  if  she  step  beyond  the 
sanctuary  of  her  home.  She  must  restrict  herself  to  the  direc- 
tion of  private  life,  as  the  normal  basis  of  public  life,  the  latter 
alone,  with  the  sex  which  administers  it,  being  set  apart  for  the 
direct  service  of  Humanity. 

This  is  the  fundamental  division,  but  beyond  this  the 
sociocratic  order  requires  the  division  of  the  servants  of  Humanity 
into  her  theoretical  and  practical  servants,  whilst  no  distinction 
is  admissible  for  her  representatives.  Although  the  theoretic 
class  may  never  be  more  than  an  extremely  small  fraction  of 
the  whole  body,  it  has  been  satisfactorily  shown  in  the  two 
preceding  volumes  that  the  separate  existence  of  this  class, 
imder  proper  conditions,  is  the  most  distinct  note  of  maturity 
in  the  Grreat  Being.  Eliminate  this  constituent,  and  human 
society  remains  national  and  incapable  of  coextension  with  the 
race.  The  superiority  of  the  theoretic  servants  of  Humanity, 
in  sympathy  as  in  synthesis,  to  her  practical  servants,  is  as  in- 
disputable as  the  inferiority  of  both  to  the  affective  sex.  In 
their  normal  conception,  its  theoretic  servants  are  the  indispen- 
sable interpreters  of  the  Great  Being,  for  they  alone  possess  the 
requisite  knowledge  of  its  nature  and  its  destinies. 

By  these  two  divisions,  tlie  constitution  of  society  is  found 
to  develope  and  to  secure  at  once,  the  consensus  in  the  individual 
of  feeling,  thought,  and  action.     The  actual  generation  is,  on 


Chap.  I.]  THEOllY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  57 

this  view,  bound  to  the  two  subjective  portions  of  Humanity, 
its  past  and  its  future — woman  impelling  us  towards  the  future, 
the  priesthood  subordinating  us  to  the  past,  the  active  mass 
having  the  present  as  its  province.  The  statical  relation  thus 
indicated  finds  dynamical  confirmation  in  the  course  of  education 
through  which  all  are  to  pass  in  the  normal  state,  with  its  three 
stages,  the  education  of  the  affections,  the  education  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  education  of  our  powers  of  action. 

But   the    constitution  above    s;i\en    would    be   incomplete  Distinction 

,1...  P,i     oftbepatri- 

without  one  general  distinction,  a  consequence  of  the  natural  date  and 

IT...  p  .  .  T  .  ,  .  mi  •     T  proletariate^ 

subdivision  or  action  into  direction  and  execution.  I  Ins  last 
falls  in  naturally  with  the  two  other  divisions,  since  by  the  law 
of  sympathy  and  generality  those  who  form  the  plans  for  the 
Great  Being  stand  higher  than  the  agents  who  cari-y  them  into 
effect.  Looking  upon  the  whole  sociocratic  oi'ganisation  as  the 
seat,  objectively,  of  the  true  providence,  it  is  vested,  for  the 
material  order,  specially  in  the  patriciate,  as  for  the  intellectual 
it  is  vested  in  the  priesthood,  and  for  the  moral  primarily  in 
woman.  Love  and  knowledge,  these  are  the  attributes  re- 
spectively of  the  two  higher  elements,  whilst  provision,  or  tlie 
satisfaction  of  our  material  wants,  is  a  function  which  for  its 
right  discharge  must  be  analysed  in  its  two  real  elements  of  will 
and  power.  In  the  patriciate  is  the  chief  seat  of  the  will,  the 
will  condensing  in  itself  as  it  were  our  whole  objective  life,  as 
societies  and  as  individuals.  On  this  ground  it  is  that  capital 
should  be  concentrated  in  the  patriciate,  as  the  directing  class 
on  which  devolves  the  provisioning  of  the  other  classes,  each  in 
its  appropriate  way.  As  for  the  abuses  inherent  in  such  vast 
power,  the  Positive  religion  is  adapted  to  check  them  by  its 
possession  of  a  common  ideal,  furnished  by  the  Great  Being. 
Composite  and  subjective — Humanity  is  alien  to  will,  and  recog- 
nises only  the  sway  of  demonstrable  laws. 

Direction  being  the  special  function  of  the  patriciate  we  are  Fnnction  of 
warranted  in  assigning  the  complementary  fnnction  to  the  tariSe!*" 
proletariate,  as  the  immediate  agent  of  the  power  of  Humanity. 
Its  service,  involving  merely  the  responsibility  of  carrying  out 
instructions,  leaves  the  proletariate  free  both  in  mind  and  heart 
to  apply  the  common  doctrine  and  make  it  felt  as  a  check  on 
the  abuses  attendant  on  the  undue  absorption  in  science  or  in- 
dustry.    The  general  superintendence  of  the  social  system,  vested 


58     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


The  auxilia- 
ries of  Hu- 
manity. 


Tile  cliarac- 
ter  of  the 
Sociocratic 
elements. 


in  the  class  which  suffers  the  most  from  its  disorder,  extends 
even  to  the  temporary  aberrations  to  which  in  private  life  an 
exaggeration  of  feeling  might  easily  give  rise. 

This  then  is  the  ideal  constitution  of  the  Sociocracy :  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Humanity  preside  over  the  family  ;  under  them  as 
supreme,  she  ranks,  first  the  interpreters  of  her  laws,  next  the 
ministers  of  her  designs,  lastly  the  agents  of  her  power.  Love, 
knowledge,  will,  and  power  are  the  attributes  respectively  of  the 
four  indispensable  branches  of  her  sei-vice,  the  separation  of 
which,  and  the  coordination  of  which,  mark  the  f  uU  maturity  of 
the  Great  Being.  To  complete,  however,  this  fundamental  out- 
line, we  must  combine  with  the  human  population  the  voluntary 
assistance  furnished  by  the  animal  races  it  can  associate,  which 
bring  a  moral  or  intellectual  or  material  contribution  to  the 
common  task  of  directing  the  aid  involuntarily  rendered  by 
purely  physical  forces. 

This  statement  introduces,  as  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter, 
an  examination  of  the  peculiar  character  of  each  of  the  consti- 
tuents of  Sociocracy,  the  lower  being,  in  obedience  to  the  law 
of  every  objective  hierarchy,  the  more  independent.  To  simplify 
their  comparison,  we  "may  reduce  the  constituents  to  three,  for 
we  may  regard  the  service  of  women  as  the  basis  for  the  indi- 
vidual of  his  service  to  society.  Subject  to  this  influence  in 
private  life,  public  life  aims  above  all  at  such  a  transformation 
of  action,  in  whatever  form  it  be  predominant,  as  may  strip  it 
of  its  egoistic  character,  and  make  it  support  and  expand  the 
altruistic  synthesis.  The  three  sociocratic  forces  contribute  by 
their  own  natural  action  to  this  general  result,  each  in  accord- 
ance with  its  peculiar  constitution.  It  is,  however,  on  the 
patriciate  in  particular  that  this  transformation  depends,  as  the 
patriciate  alone  is  competent  to  give  a  collective  character  tn 
individual  activity  by  virtue  of  the  capital  it  administers.  The 
supremacy,  however,  of  the  patriciate,  necessary  as  it  is,  would 
continue  to  have  a  purely  empirical  character  and  would  he  a 
source  of  abuse,  were  it  not  for  the  moderating  power  vested  in 
the  priesthood,  which,  as  the  special  depositary  of  our  intellec- 
tual capital,  gives  a  systematic  direction  to  ordinary  life  by 
connecting  it  with  our  subjective  existence.  Lastly,  the  great 
body  of  the  industrial  workers,  connected,  though  by  a  different 
tie,  with  each  of  the  above  classes,  is  the  spontaneous  regulator 
of  the  disputes   which  arise  in  the  course  of  events  from  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  ,59 

patrician  desire  of  power,  and  the  sacerdotal  craving  for  in- 
fluence. 

Before  characterising  each  of  the  thi'ee  indispensable  elements 
of  society,  it  is  desirable  to  examine  into  the  moral  stimulus 
constantly  imparted  to  all  the  servants  of  Humanity  by  hex 
representative  in  the  family. 

In  some  degree,  greater  or  less,  the  affective  sex  has  at  all  Woman. 
times  accomplished  this  holy  mission ;  but,  to  put  out  its  full  j,endence. 
power,  woman  needs,  within  proper  limits,  independence,  a  con- 
dition for  which  the  initiation  of  mankind  has  gradually  pre- 
pared the  way,  though  its  full  realisation  is  reserved  for  the 
adult  age  of  the  Great  Being.  The  condition  is  so  absolutely 
necessary,  that  its  attainment  will  be  a  simple  consequence  of  a 
sound  estimate  of  woman's  nature  and  function,  as  an  inter- 
mediate being  between  men  and  Humanity.  But  the  change 
does  not  merely  involve  the  placing  her  moral  higher  than  her 
physical  function,  hitherto  coarsely  held  paramount.  It  implies 
in  addition  the  previous  correction  of  the  existing  opinions  as 
to  this  physical  function,  originally  held  to  be  essentin.lly  a 
masculine  attribute.  On  this  point  the  permanent  direction  of 
the  current  of  human  opinion  may  be  inferred  from  a  com- 
parison of  the  theory,  on  which  Apollo  in  ^schylus  justifies 
Orestes  before  Minerva,  with  the  doctrine  enunciated  by 
Harvey. 

Admitting,  however,  this  growing  disposition  to  look '  on  change  ot 
man  as  the  offspring  mainly  of  woman,  it  is  still  a  point  on  the  function 
which  opinion  has  by  no  means  reached  the  normal  conclusion,  tioo. 
Yet  in  the  antecedent  movement  we  have  an  indication  that 
the  conviction  will  soon  become  general,  that  in  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  species  the  larger  share  by  far  is  the  woman's.  Even 
already,  and  amid  the  actual  confusion  of  biological  conceptions, 
the  share  of  the  man  is  allowed  to  be  much  smaller  than  might 
be  expected  from  the  activity  of  his  generative  system.  In  the 
third  chapter  I  shall  clear  up  this  difficulty  by  assigning  the 
system  in  question  another  purpose  as  its  main  one.  In 
the  second  place,  the  conclusive  observation  of  Franklin,  that  if 
we  go  back  but  a  few  generations  we  necessarily  come  to  com- 
mon ancestors,  is  but  an  expression  of  the  truth  that,  even 
physically,  men  are  more  the  children  of  Humanity  than  of 
their  several  families.  Over  ,and  above  this  community  of 
origin,  the  distinct  act  of  reproduction  must  also  take  a  col- 


60    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OP  MAN. 

lective  character,  and  for  this  end  we  need  a  judicious  return  to 
the  ideas  as  to  the  influence  of  the  nervous  system,  -which, 
though  deficient  in  clearness,  were  sound,  and  which  were  too 
blindly  rejected  during  the  recent  period  of  anarchy.  If,  as 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  the  state  of  the  mother's  brain 
affects  the  constitution  of  the  foetus,  then  the  whole  environ- 
ment, physical  and  social,  dmlng  pregnancy,  plays  a  greater 
part  than  in  the  lower  races  in  the  production  of  each  child  of 
Humanity. 

The  physical  function  of  woman  becomes  then  a  collective 
one,  social  in  its  origin  and  its  accomplishment,  social  also  in  its 
result.  On  this  view,  and  it  is  one  even  now  susceptible  of 
demonstration,  woman's  high  place  in  the  family  is  placed 
on  a  solid  foundation.  But  to  give  definiteness  to  our  con- 
ception of  the  independence  of  woman,  I  think  it  right  to 
place  here  a  daring  hypothesis,  possibly  destined  to  become  a 
reality  in  tlie  course  of  our  advance,  though  at  what  time,  or 
even  in  what  manner,  is  not  for  me  to  enquire. 
The  Hypo-  If  in  human  reproduction  the  man  contributes  merely  a 

i-ep?oauctiTe  stimulus,  one  that  is  but  an  incidental  accompaniment  of  the 
ctaiveiy^''  J'cal  office  of  his  generative  system,  then  it  is  conceivable  that 
we  miglit  substitute  for  this  stimulus  one  or  more  which 
should  be  at  women's  free  disposal.  The  non-existence  of  such 
a  power  in  the  animal  races  nearest  to  man,  is  no  sufiicient 
reason  for  refusing  it  to  man  as  the  most  eminent  race  and  the 
most  susceptible  of  modification.  In  man  the  privilege  would 
be  in  accordance  with  other  peculiarities  of  the  same  function, 
with  menstruation  for  instance,  which  is  a  decided  advance  on 
the  rudimentar}'  form  of  it  found  among  the  higher  animals,  an 
advance  due  to  our  civilised  condition. 

I  need  not  dwell  further  upon  this  hypothesis,  the  sole  ob- 
ject of  which  is  to  implant  a  presentiment,  as  it  were,  of  the 
degree  in  which  woman,  even  in  her  physical  functions,  may 
become  independent  of  men.  In  social  statics,  an  hypothesis  of 
a  less  warrantable  kind  enabled  me,  without  objection  from  any 
quarter,  to  establish  on  a  surer  basis  the  true  theory  of  propprty. 
I  hope  therefore  that  the  indication  above  given  will  shortly 
prevail  over  a  repugnance  which  is  without  rational  foundation, 
and  will  tend  to  strengthen  a  theory  of  equal  importance. 
Supposing  the  independence  of  woman  ever  to  attain  this 
limit,  as  a  consequence  of  the  sum  of  human  progress,  moral, 


fem.ile. 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  61 

intellectual,  and  even  physical,  then  her  action  on  society  would 
be  increased  in  an  eminent  measure.  We  should  then  no  longer 
hesitate  between  the  coarse  view  now  prevalent  and  the  noble 
doctrine  to  which  Positivism  gives  its  systematic  form.  The 
highest  species  of  production  would  no  longer  be  at  the  mercy  of 
a  capricious  and  unruly  instinct,  the  proper  restraint  of  which 
has  hitherto  been  the  chief  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  human 
discipline.  The  function  and  all  the  responsibilities  it  involves 
would  then  be  vested,  as  it  should  be,  in  its  highest  organs,  in 
.those  who  alone  can  overcome  the  weakness  of  impulse — and  the 
object  of  the  transfer  would  be  the  accomplishment  of  all  attain- 
able ameliorations. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  part  conditions 

of  woman's 

assigned  in  the  sociocratic  institutions  to  women  is  independent  indcpeud- 

°  ^  enoe. 

of  this  hypothetical  improvement.  On  this  point  I  need  not 
enter  into  details,  I  may  rely  on  the  three  preceding  volumes, 
and  in  especial  on  the  General  View.  Shortly  to  state  it : 
the  just  independence  of  the  sex  may  be  regarded  as  resting 
upon  two  conditions  in  close  connection  with  one  another :  the 
exemption  of  all  women  from  work  away  from  home,  and  their 
voluntary  and  complete  renunciation  of  wealth.  For  women 
suffer  more  from  the  aspirations  of  ambition  than  they  do  from 
the  pressure  of  poverty.  Priestesses  of  Humanity  in  the  family 
circle,  born  to  mitigate  by  affection  the  rule,  the  necessary  rule, 
of  strength,  women  should  shrink  from  any  participation  in 
power  as  in  its  very  nature  degrading. 

Support  and  encouragement  to  this  deepest  conviction  will  Result  ot 

mr-i-i  -IT  Education 

be  naturally  found  m  the  common  education,  placed  under  the  on  woman. 
presidency  of  women,  when  they  have  learnt  to  appreciate  it,  nay 
have  themselves  received  it.  Its  training  will  put  them  on 
their  guard  most  particularly  against  the  instigations  of  vanity, 
less  dangerous,  it  is  true,  but  more  irresistible  to  women  than 
those  of  pride.  Brought  into  close  contact  with  the  whole 
range  of  real  knowledge,  they  will  but  the  more  keenly  feel  the 
value  of  affection  and  the  justice  of  its  claim  to  superiority  over 
thought,  the  true  function  of  which  is  simply  to  be  the  system- 
atic guide  of  action.  In  this  way,  women's  aptitude  for  syn- 
thesis, hitherto  wholly  uncultivated,  will  receive  due  cultivation, 
not  such  cultivation,  however,  as  to  interfere  with  her  mission, 
but  one  calculated  to  give  a  firm  cohesion  to  her  superiority  in 
sympathy. 


62    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Value  of  the 
encyclopaB- 
dic  training 
for  Ler. 


Woman 
offers  less 
difficulty 
'  thtin  the 
aotive  class. 


By  her  constant  preference  of  feeling,  woman  is  naturally 
exposed  to  mistakes  which  might  be  prejudicial  to  her  intel- 
lectual and  practical  growth,  if  the  increase  of  her  influence 
were  not  preceded  by  an  improvement  in  her  education.  More 
truly  synthetical  than  man  as  being  more  sympathetic,  she  is 
still  less  systematic  than  he  is,  be  it  as  a  result  of  her  mental  con- 
stitution, or  most  especially  of  her  absorption  in  affection,  affec- 
tion ever  aiming  at  the  immediate  attainment  of  some  particu- 
lar object.  There  is  no  other  corrective  for  this  defect  but  an 
encyclopedic  education,  and  if  uncorrected,  it  compromises  the 
efficiency  of  women  in  the  Positive  society.  A  sound  apprecia- 
tion of  the  order  of  things  would  lead  them  to  see  how  important 
submission  is  to  dignity.  Although  confined  on  good  grounds  to 
domestic  life,  women  should  so  far  understand  public  life  as  to 
be  able  to  direct  the  power  exercised  by  the  heart  so  as  to 
qualify  it  for  its  high  destiny.  Positive  education,  whilst 
it  deprecates  the  exaggeration  of  feeling,  is  also  calculated  to 
correct  the  deficiencies  in  women  in  regard  to  character.  For 
in  this,  as  in  intelligence,  their  shortcomings  are  traceable 
rather  to  the  system  under  which  they  live  than  to  their 
natural  constitution,  and  may  be  obviated  so  far  as  not  to 
hamper  an  existence,  the  true  purpose  of  which  is  as  little  action 
as  it  is  speculation. 

The  above  remarks  suEBce  for  the  present  as  to  the  regenera- 
tion of  woman  in  the  sociocratic  state.  Consolidating,  nay, 
even  calling  into  greater  activity  her  spontaneity,  the  Positive 
religion  will  enable  the  sex  to  attain  the  coherent  existence  in 
which  as  yet  it  is  deficient.  This  new  position,  which  will  as  a 
whole  realise  the  highest  aspirations  of  the  Middle  Ages,  wiU 
meet  with  but  little  opposition  from  women  when  once  they 
have  grasped  its  idea  ;  they  will  not  be  daunted  by  the  conditions 
of  intellectual  and  moral  capacity  which  it  exacts  from  them. 
In  fact,  errors  traceable  to  feeling  have  this  advantage  over 
the  errors  traceable  to  intellect  and  activity,  that,  once  recog- 
nised, our  feelings  are  interested  in  the  correction  of  them,  as 
in  all  cases  destructive  of  the  object  those  feelings  cannot  but 
propose  to  themselves.  The  grand  difficulty  in  the  path  of 
the  Positive  religion  once  overcome,  the  difficulty,  that  is,  of 
forming  the  Priesthood  of  Humanity,  the  effort  needed  to 
regenerate  women  will  be  less  than  that  required  to  regenerate 
the  patriciate  or  even  the  proletariate. 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  63 

This  judgment  induces  the  next  step,  the  explanation  of  TheSpiri- 
the  constitution  of  the  spiiitual  power  of  Sociocracy,  the  natural 
connecting  link  between  the  two  sexes. 

It  was  reserved  for  Positivism  to  complete  what  had  been  Conditions 
left  inchoate  by  Catholicism,  viz.,  the  decisive  separation  of  the  pcndeuce. 
theoretic  from  the  active  power ;  on  this  point  I  need  not  here 
enter  into  further  explanation.  It  is  the  less  obligatory  to 
return  on  ideas  which  found  their  proper  place  in  the  second 
volume  and  were  completed  in  the  third,  in  that  the.  two 
conditions  of  the  independence  of  the  priesthood  are  similar  to 
those,  recalled  above,  which  apply  to  women.  These  two  kin- 
dred elements  of  the  moderating  power  differ,  in  regard  to  inde- 
pendence, only  in  the  mode  of  their  support.  Women,  the  source 
of  the  spontaneous  impulse,  are  maintained  by  their  families ; 
the  priesthood,  the  organ  of  systematic  influence,  is  maintained 
by  the  state,  or  rather  by  the  race,  and  this  holds  good  even 
when  such  maintenance  depends  on  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  individuals.  As  the  priesthood,  however,  necessarily  takes 
part  in  public  life,  more  precautions  are  required  in  its  case 
than  in  the  case  of  women,  as  regards  the  second  and  more 
personal  condition  of  independence ;  the  aim  being  to  get  rid 
of  the  tendencies  to  pride  which  are  more  fatal  to  its  useful- 
ness than  those  of  vanity.  The  priesthood,  not  content  with  re- 
nouncing wealth,  must  give  all  its  services  whatsoever  gratui- 
tously, for,  as  they  lead  to  no  destruction  of  materials,  they 
exclude  the  idea  of  wages,  the  invariable  object  of  which  is  to 
replace  the  materials  of  labour. 

The  proper  character   of  the  priesthood  is   naturally   and  character  of 

1...         ,  -r.  ■  ii  -ijii^  thePriest- 

distmctly  seen  if  we  compare  it  generally  with  that  oi  women,  hood  shown 

■niT  ,-1  •  1  ■  XI.  1-       bycompa- 

Both  elements  of  the  spiritual  power  are  m  sympathy  and  in  ring  it  with 
synthesis  superior  to  the  active  world  which  they  are  to  discipline, 
and  they  differ  from  one  another  solely  by  the  different  propor- 
tion in  which  they  respectively  possess  these  qualities,  sympathy 
being  the  more  feminine  attribute,  synthesis  the  more  priestly. 
Their  difference  in  this  respect  corresponds,  intellectually,  to  a 
difference  in  their  respective  cultivation  of  induction  and  deduc- 
tion, a  difference  which  modifies  the  power  of  expression  which 
they  have  in  common;  morally,  to  the  predominance  respectively 
of  attachment  or  benevolence ;  both  being  equally  prone,  though 
in  a  distinct  form,  to  veneration.  We  may  even  complete  the 
parallel  and  extend  it  to  the  character  properly  so  called,  since 


Woman. 


6-1    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  great 
fanctiou  of 
the  Priest- 
hood, Edu- 
cation. 


courage  and  firmness  should  be  most  prominent  in  the  priest, 
prudence  in  the  woman.  This  comparison  between  the  nature 
and  position  of  the  two  moderating  elements,  represents  the 
improvement  of  either,  as  mainly  consisting  in  the  careful 
cultivation  in  itself  of  the  special  qualities  of-  the  other,  by  the 
due  discharge  of  its  peculiar  function.  A  consequence  of  this  is 
the  natural  affinity,  an  affinity  ever  on  the  increase,  between  the 
priesthood  and  women.  It  finds  at  length  its  recognition  in 
Positivism,  for,  no  longer  tolerating  the  fatal  anomaly  of 
Catholicism,  Positivism  binds  marriage  upon  the  priests  of 
Humanity,  so  to  offer  the  best  type  of  our  nature,  by  a  noble 
combination  of  private  with  public  life. 

This  previous  condition  fulfilled,  the  life  of  the  priest  will 
give  ample  scope  for  his  power  of  synthesis  so  as  to  make  it 
react  on  the  developement  of  his  sympathies,  just  as,  inversely, 
sympathy  leads  woman  to  synthesis.  The  chief  function  of  the 
priest  of  Humanity  is  education,  the  encyclopoedic  education 
which  is  needed  to  complete  the  training  given  in  the  family ; 
the  object  being  to  allow  the  formation  of  a  sound  pubhc 
opinion,  calculated  to  consolidate  the  consultative  influence  of 
tlie  priesthood  throughout  our  life.  Now  education,  as  the 
primary  function  of  the  spiritual  power,  in  regard  to  which  it 
admits  no  competition,  requires  and  fosters  the  systematic 
predominance  of  the  synthetical  spirit,  left  to  its  spontaneous 
growth  in  women.  Better  than  aught  else,  this  spirit  tests  the 
value  of  the  various  theories,  which  are  necessarily  idle  specula- 
tions if  not  conducive  to  this  end.  To  correct  the  habits  formed 
by  the  long  process  of  elaborating  the  objective  basis  required 
by  the  Positive  religion,  all  we  need  is,  to  limit  scientific  train- 
ing to  such  knowledge  of  the  order  of  things  as  is  indispensable 
for  wise  action.  This  limitation  will  flow  naturally  from  the 
completeness  of  intellectual  range  characteristic  of  our  public 
education,  from  which  all  specialisation  must  be  banished, 
allowing  for  such  developements  as  the  ulterior  needs  of  prac- 
tical life  require.  Coming  after  the  education  of  the  aflfections, 
the  education  of  the  intellect,  always,  it  must  be  remembered, 
given  under  the  superintendence  of  women,  will  never  encourage 
the  intellect  to  rebel  against  the  heai't,  a  result  generally  trace- 
able to  excess  of  detail  in  our  speculations. 

Trained    to   comprehensiveness   by   their    chief  office,  the 
priests  of  Humanity  will  carry  the  same  habit  of  mind  into  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEOEY  OF  THE   GEEAT  BEING.  65 

scientific  labours  to  which  it  may  give  occasion.  Their  other 
and  complementary  duties  in  reference  to  practical  life  will  be 
an  additional  check  upon,  or  a  remedy  for,  an  excess  on  the  side  of 
abstraction.  Still,  as  their  action  on  society  requires  not  merely 
intellectual  capacity,  but  intellectual  capacity  combined  with 
rare  excellence  of  heart  and  character,  we  must  provide  for  the 
exceptional  cases  where  the  combination  is  imperfect,  and  where 
yet  it  is  desirable  not  to  hinder  the  intellectual  developement. 
In  such  anomalous  cases,  less  frequent  than  is  thought  at 
present,  Sociocracy  relegates  to  the  class  of  pensioners  of  the 
priesthood  those  who,  from  deficiency  in  point  of  energy  or 
tenderness,  are  only  fit  for  science.  As  for  the  special  inves- 
tigations which  may  for  a  time  require  the  concentrated 
attention  of  true  priests,  they  may  be  provided  for  by  appropriate 
dispensations,  without  in  any  case  impairing  the  legitimate 
supremacy  of  the  disposition  to  synthesis  and  sympathy,  which 
is  the  invariable  characteristic  of  those  who  direct  the  relative 
religion. 

To  the  impulse  derived  from  women,  and  to  its  own  social  The  fusion 
destination,  we  may  add,  as  a  protection  to  the  Positive  priest-  phy  and 
hood  against  degenerating  from  excess  of  abstraction,  the  fusion,  aid  in  pre- 
which  is  an  imperative  necessity,  of  philosophy  with  poetry.     If  true  priestiy 
not  combined  in  close  alliance,  they  are  a  constant  source  of 
grave  disturbance  in  the  sociocratic  order,  as  science  and  art, 
natm-ally  rivals,  claim  on  equivalent  grounds  the  spiritual  direc- 
tion.    Their  rivalry  is  prevented  if  the  priesthood  absorbs  both 
capacities  in  the  complete  compreliensiveness  which  is  its  note, 
in  both  its  forms — spontaneous  and  systematic.     The  distinct 
advancement  of  either  science  or  art  will  not  call  for  more  than 
exceptional  efforts,  as  above  stated,  when  the  Positive  religion 
shall   have   really  closed   the  transitional    period,  increasingly 
revolutionary  in  its  character,  which  lies  between  us  and  the 
Theocracy,  the  single  instance  hitherto  of  a  normal  society.     In 
the  doctrine  the  oflBce  of  the  priesthood  is  mainly  scientific ;  in 
the  worship  it  becomes  mainly  artistic ;  in  the  regime  there  is 
equal  scope  for  both  powers,  for  the  theoretic  in  preaching  and 
consecration,  for  the  poetic  in  consultation  and  discipline.     Art 
first  shook  off  the  yoke  of  Theocracy,  as  interfering  with  any 
decided  growth  ;    science  could  not  but  follow  its  example,  to 
gain  power  to  construct  the  objective  basis  of  the  final  religion. 
All  sound  philosophy,   however,   with  a  presentiment  of  the 

VOL.  IV.  F 


characl^er. 


resume  the 
medical  '  ■, 
office. 


66      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

subjective  character  of  the  true  synthesis,  kept  constantly  before 
it  as  its  aim  a  return,  under  proper  conditions,  to  the  plenary 
sacerdotal  organisation,  whenever  the  twofold  effort  of  art  and  of 
science  should  have  laid  a  sufficient  basis  for  its  definitive 
shape. 

ho^^iif'  Philosophical  or  poetical, — it  is  indifferent  which  term  we 

use, — to  complete  its  legitimate  attributions,  the  Positive  priest- 
hood  must  absorb  all  the  other  functions,  which,  as  they  directly 
regard  man,  are  in  their  nature  indivisible.  Such  is  pre-eminently 
the  medical — the  provisional  isolation  of  which  has  gradually  led 
to  a  state  of  mental  and  moral  degeneration  urgently  calling 
for  its  reincorporation  with  the  priestly  office.  A  portentous 
venality,  combined  with  irrational  speciality,  leads  in  medicine 
to  a  blind  ignoring  of  the  indivisibility  of  human  nature  in  the 
individual  as  in  society.  But  by  virtue  of  its  encyclopaedic 
training,  the  Positive  priesthood  will  resume  the  medical  office 
as  the  inseparable  complement  of  its  principal  function,  a 
function  which  connects  it  with  human  existence  under  all  its 
aspects  whatsoever.  Two  special  precautions,  however,  are 
necessary  in  reference  to  this  complement,  or  the  dignity  of  the 
priesthood  might  be  lowered  by  mere  manual  and  cruel  duties. 
The  surgical  department,  reduced  to  its  original  subaltern  posi- 
tion, must  be  handed  over  to  those  best  qualified  for  it,  must 
belong,  that  is,  to  the  surgical  instrument  makers,  when  qualified 
by  an  encyclopaedic  education  to  avail  themselves  of  the  special 
opportunities  afforded  by  their  profession.  So  again,  post- 
mortem examinations  will  be  limited  to  the  functionary  who,  Iq 
the  name  of  Humanity,  performs  the  terrible  duty  of  executing 
murderers ;  their  bodies  will  be  sufficient  for  the  real  needs  of 
science  in  its  renovated  state. 

An  universal         TMs  Outline  of  the  constitution  of  the  priesthood  would  be 

language. 

incomplete  unless  I  pointed  out  the  solution,  the  natural  solution, 
of  a  serious  difficulty;  the  difficulty,  viz.,  consequent  on  the  neces- 
sity of  the  extension  of  the  Positive  religion  to  all  portions  of  the 
Earth.  Evidently,  its  universal  adoption  depends  on  the  exist- 
ence of  a  common  language,  as  is  explained  in  the  fourth  chapter 
of  the  second  volume.  Its  formation  occupied  the  leading  thinkers, 
dating  from  the  period  at  which  the  Western  revolution  evoked 
strongly  marked  aspirations  for  a  definitive  reorganisation.  But 
the  metaphysical  spirit  led  to  the  mistake  of  not  seeing  that ' 
such  a  construction  must  be  spontaneous,  its  only  possible  basis  ' 


Chap.  I.]  '  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  67 

being  its  elaboration  by  the  people,  so  that  it  can  only  be  the 
result  of  the  unanimous  adoption  of  an  existing  language.  Of 
the  various  languages  of  the  West,  that  must  be  the  best  itaUau 
adapted  for  universal  acceptance  which  has  been  most  cultivated 
for  poetry  and  music,  as  soon  as  appropriate  modifications  shall 
have  qualified  it  systematically  for  its  position.  Sprung,  as  it 
is,  from  the  improvement,  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  of  the 
language  spoken  by  the  noblest  precursors  of  the  definitive  social 
order,  it  is  the  best  fitted  to  bind  worthily  the  future  to  the  past. 
Shaped  by  the  most  peaceful  and  most  artistic  of  European 
nations,  the  only  one  clear  of  any  share  in  colonisation,  it  will 
meet  the  fewest  obstacles  to  its  free  adoption  everywhere,  an 
adoption  which  will  be  secured  by  the  priesthood  of  Positivism, 
consecrating  it  to  the  worship  of  Humanity. 

To  see  the  full  force  of  these  remarks  we  must  wait  for  their  Practical 
expansion  ia  the  subsequent  chapters,  but  they  are  sufficient  in 
this  place  to  give  a  distinct  idea  of  the  constitution  of  the 
priesthood  as  a  whole.  It  remains  to  ofifer  their  equivalent  as 
regards  industrial  life,  and  I  begin  with  the  patriciate,  the 
power  which  is  to  direct  the  advance  of  society  in  this  respect. 

The  patriciate,  as  the  centre  of  action  and  nutrition,  is  the  (p  i?atri- 
special  basis  of  the  State,  or  City,  as  the  woman  is  of  the  Family,  basis  of  the 
the  priesthood  of  the  Church.  Peculiar  to  the  intermediate 
association,- the  patriciate  can  find  its  discipline  nowhere  else 
but  in  the  persistent  influence  brought  to  bear  upon  it  by  the 
two  others,  the  influence  of  love  by  the  closest  form,  the 
influence  of  faith  by  the  largest,  so  that  its  regeneration  must 
be  subsequent  to  theirs.  The  responsibilities  inseparable  from 
its  position  distract  it  from  affection  ;  its  proper  concentration 
on  the  present  makes  it  neglect  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect. 
It  needs  then  the  influence  of  women  to  lead  it  back  constantly 
towards  the  true  source  of  unity ;  the  influence  of  the  priest  to. 
remind  it  that  solidarity  is  secondary  to  continuity ;  that  in  its 
care  for  existing  interests  it  must  not  neglect  those  of  the 
future.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  less  necessary  for  the 
harmony  of  Sociocracy  that  its  industrial  chiefs  should  exercise 
an  influence  over  its  moral  and  intellectual  organs.  The 
intellect  and  the  emotions  would  otherwise  infallibly  be  led 
astray  into  idle  enquiries  or  mystical  exaggerations,  as  their 
nature  prompts  them  to  one  or  the  other.  Give  a  collective 
character  to  human  industry,  and  its  habitual  predominance,  so 

r  2 


city. 


68       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN, 

far  from  impeding  the  moral  and  intellectual  progi'ess  of  the 
race,  is   on   the  contrary   the   indispensable  condition   of  its 
coherence  and  completeness. 
ThePatri-  Sufficient  for  this  reaction.    On  the  assumption  of  it  I  have 

date  the 

seat  of  Hu-  now  to  explain  the  prerogative  by  which,  from  the  abstract 
point  of  view,  I  defined  the  patriciate,  when  I  said  that  the  will, 
a  feature  peculiar  to  objective  life,  and  in  which  alone  that 
life  finds  its  condensed  expression,  resides  properly  in  the 
patriciate. 

Nothing  can  show  more  clearly  in  what  way  this  directing 
power  contributes  to  the  true  imity  of  man,  which  finds  its 
natural  presentation  in  the  will  as  the  point  of  convergence 
for  the  impulses  of  affection,  the  deliberations  of  the  intellect, 
and  the  virtues  of  the  character.  Although  the  convergence 
be  of  rare  attainment,  the  necessary  condition  of  its  rise  and 
duration  is  the  ascendancy  of  a  concentrated  power,  the  only 
means  of  preventing  or  repressing  the  divergences  attendant 
on  our  complex  nature.  It  is  on  this  point  that  the  Great 
Being  most  needs  the  aid  of  its  true  servants  to  remedy  the 
grand  defect  of  its  constitution,  the  composite  and  subjective 
constitution,  which  is  the  source  of  tendencies,  nay,  even  of 
designs,  but  never  of  will.  The  dead,  as  a  corporate  exist- 
ence, exercise  a  direct  control  over  the  thoughts  and  feehngs 
of  the  living,  whereas  Humanity  can  only  impel  us  to  will 
through  the  agency  of  the  laws,  of  her  own  creation  or  of 
nature's,  which  she  gradually  establishes.  These  laws,  however, 
cannot  go  beyond  the  giving  a  general  impulse.  They  cannot 
inspire  us  with  the  steady  and  definite  resolution  requisite  for 
the  details  of  action  in  particular  circumstances.  It  is  the  will 
which  is  in  immediate  connection  with  action,  and  it  is  in  the 
will  that  lies  the  leading  difference  between  the  objective  and 
the  subjective  life. 

Will  requires         But  to  wiU    with  effect,  the   primary  requisite  is  power. 

giveitefleot.  Houce  effective  will  is  confined  to  the  patricians,  as  a  rule,  as 
the  indispensable  condensers  of  the  material  forces  of  society, 
the  immediate  end  of  which  is  the  developement  of  man's 
activity.  Their  great  duty  is  to  subordinate  their  particular 
decisions  to  the  general  laws,  laws  free  from  caprice,  which  the 
Grreat  Being  imposes  on  its  collective  servants.  Wealth  leads 
to  the  non-recognition  or  contempt  of  this  universal  oblig'ation, 
but  not  the  less  does  it  lie  under  it,  and  sooner  or  later  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  69 

aberrations  it  occasions  are  corrected  by  it,  so  that  they  do 
not  interfere  with  its  essential  object.  Will  is,  primarily, 
peculiar  to  the  collective  life  of  man,  whence  it  extends  to  his 
individual  life,  from  the  essential  interdependence  of  the  two. 
In  fact  men  are,  in  large  majority,  naturally  irresolute,  and 
would  rem.ain  so  were  it  not  for  the  injunctions  of  authority, 
which,  with  a  definiteness  lacking  elsewhere  as  a  rule,  supple- 
ment by  a  natural  process  the. decrees  of  destiny.  Provided 
that-it  be  ennobled  by  love,  and  obedience  to  man  meets  this 
condition  better  than  obedience  to  the  external  order,  sub- 
mission promotes  individual  happiness  in  as  great  a  degree  as  it 
does  the  well-being  of  society. 

The  will,  as  the  characteristic  function  of  the  patriciate.  Necessity  of 
requires  in  the  first  place  certain  material  conditions,  the  uon  of 
principal  one  being  the  concentration  of  wealth.  The  natural  ferred. 
tendency  of  industrial  life  is,  it  is  true,  towards  this  concen- 
tration, but  there  are  certain  leading  imperfections  in  this  form 
of  existence  for  which  man's  providence  can  and  should  provide 
remedies,  and  the  remedies  are  t:wofold.  In  the  first  place,  the 
manhood  of  the  race  will  give  a  systematic  form  to  the  ten- 
dencies of  its  childhood,  and  will  judiciously  encourage  the 
practice  of  gifts,  gifts  both  from  the  state  and  from  individuals, 
as  a  means  of  creating  patricians  fully  inclined  to  accept  the 
discipline  of  the  sociocratie  order.  Secondly,  the  law  which 
makes  wealth  depend  for  its  efficiency  on  its  concentration 
implies  that  each  patrician,  whether  created  as  above,  or  born  so, 
extends  his  sphere  of  action  till  it  be  commensurate  with  the 
responsibilities  proportionate  to  his  capital.  This  lessens  the 
cost  of  administration,  but  it  does  more,  and  the  great  reason 
for  the  condition  is,  that  we  multiply  the  securities,  so  much 
needed,  for  the  right  use  of  wealth,  in  its  distribution  no  less 
than  in  its  production. 

This  last  result,  however,  depends  more  on  internal  than  internal 

T   •  *       t      t         n  _L  j_'i  1       conditions, 

on  external  conditions,  and  the  former  are  most  susceptible 
of  modification.  The  most  important  point  is  the  emotional 
part  of  our  nature,  in  regard  to  which  we  must  remember,  that 
the  personal  instincts  alone  are  habitually  able  to  inspire  the 
will  with  sufficient  energy  to  direct  firstly  our  collective,  then 
our  indi\adual  existence.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  the  Positive 
religion  sanctions  in  the  patrician,  whilst  it  disciplines,  pride,  as 
the  foundation  of  an  authority  indispensable  to  society,  whereas 


To      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTTJEE  OF  MAN. 

in  all  other  classes  pride  is  misplaced  or  childisli.  A  competent 
priesthood  will  find  it  the  easier  to  put  aside  the  jealous 
objections  of  empiricism,  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
patricians,  as  the  ministers  of  the  Great  Being,  whilst  subject 
to  the  fatalities  of  our  cerebral  organisation,  display,  as  a  rule, 
a  less  ignoble  egoism  than  that  of  the  objectors.  From  avarice 
their  wealth  protects  them ;  they  ennoble  labour  by  their 
free  choice  of  it  as  their  profession ;  and  that  choice  is  deter- 
mined by  the  highest  of  our  personal  instincts — ^the  instincts 
most  closely  allied  to  those  of  sympathy,  and  most  open  to 
social  influences.  Still,  allowing  for  these  natural  dispositions, 
the  spiritual  power  will  have  to  exert  itself  constantly  to 
modify  by  faith  and  love  the  energetic  will  required  of  the 
patriciate  by  its  mission,  with  the  view  of  bringing  it  into  as 
close  a  connection  as  possible  with  the  benevolent  instincts. 
The  regeneration  indicated  finds  direct  support  in  the  concen- 
tration of  wealth,  such  concentration  strengthening  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  sway  of  Humanity,  and  so  evoking  generosity 
of  feeling  as  a  consequence  of  generality  in  thought  and  act. 
Thcpatri-  Thus   we   introduce   regularity  into  the   phenomenon,   so 

chj.  deserving  our  admiration,  of  the  constant  reproduction,  with 

increase,  of  the  perishable  portion  of  human  capital.  Yet  to 
ensure  a  right  appreciation  of  this  general  result  of  human 
providence  in  its  material  aspect,  I  have  to  show  in  what  way 
the  several  constituents  of  the  patrician  hierarchy  contribute 
to  it. 

The  constituent  elements  of  the  moderating  power  are  each 
of  them  by  their  nature  indivisible ;  as  appears  from  the 
uniformity  of  the  action  of  women ;  from  the  concentration 
which  characterises  that  of  the  priesthood ;  for  any  division 
weakens  it  by  interfering  with  synthesis.  The  patriciate, 
on  the  contrary,  the  directing  power,  is  divisible,  and 
must  be  so,  from  the  speciality  inherent  in  its  object.  All 
spiritual  authority  necessarily  originates  in  a  single  brain,  and 
radiates  thence  gradually  in  every  direction  whatsoe%''er  ;  that 
it  requires  a  plurality  of  interpreters  is  due  solely  to  its  wide 
sphere  of  action  ;  in  itself  it  remains  homogeneous.  Practical 
power,  on  the  other  hand,  admits  of  concentration  only  in  a 
very  limited  degree  ;  so  limited  that  each  department  of 
industry,  looked  at  as  a  whole,  requires  many  chiefs,  each 
independent  one  of  the  other,  each  providing  for  the  wants  of  a 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OP  THE  GEEAT  BEING.  71 

small  population.  Neglecting  this  secondary  division,  due  to 
our  weakness  as  individuals,  what  we  have  to  attend  to  here 
is  the  main  division  of  the  patriciate,  based  on  the  differences 
in  its  industrial  action. 

The     division   consists   in    distinguishing    three    essential  Threeciosses 

•      1      J  -L  •  ,  of  patricians 

classes,    according    as    industry,    becoming    more   and    more  (i)  Agrioui- 
condensed,  produces,  manufactures,  or  transports  the  objects  (2)  Manu- 
that  supply  our  wants.     Hence,  as  a  consequence,  the  patrician  (?)  commer- 
hierarchy,  in  natural  correspondence  with  the  universal  principle 
of  Positive  classification,  the  principle  of  increase  in  generality 
and  decrease  in  independence.     So  viewed,  to  concentrate  the 
hierarchy  in  one  single  chief  becomes  evidently  impossible,  not 
merely  for  our  planet  as  a  whole,  but   even  for  each  inde- 
pendent state,  as  no  single  man  could  be  competent  simul- 
taneously to  direct  its  agriculture,  its  manufactures,  and  its 
commerce.     Nevertheless  the  organisation  of  industry  would  Baniiera. 
still  be  impracticable,  were  it  not  that  the  progress  of  the  most 
concentrated  of  its  forms,  commerce,  has  thrown  up  a  still  more 
condensed  form,  which  connects  with  all  the  other  forms  by  the 
circulation   of  values   and  the  developement  of  credit.     This 
supreme  degree  of  industrial  abstraction  leads  to  the  creation  of 
a  patriciate  on  which  naturally  devolves  the  leading  infl^uence 
in  the  city,  and  the  further  function  of  bringing  into  active 
concert  all  the  various  states. 

And  yet  the  Bank,  however  legitimate  its  superiority  when 
compared  with  commerce,  manufactures,  and  agriculture,  can 
offer  no  discipline  for  each  several  population,  much  less  a 
rallying  point  for  the  different  populations.  But  though  in  no 
sense  a  substitute  for  the  continuous  interference  of  the  two 
elements  of  the  spiritual  power,  its  ascendancy  smooths  the 
way  for  their  influence  upon  the  directing  patriciate,  by  con- 
centrating such  influence  on  its  highest  branch.  In  fact  the 
encyclopaedic  education  will  lead  habitually  to  close  relations 
between  the  priesthood  and  the  bankers,  by  virtue  of  the  gene- 
rality which  characterises  their  operations,  so  that  the  banking 
class  will  be  the  civic  organ  for  inaugurating  the  more  impor- 
tant connections  of  science  with  industry. 

After  this  examination  of  the  patriciate,  we  may  complete  The  Proie- 
our  conspectus  of  the  Sociocracy  in  the  concrete  by  that  of  its 
fourth  indispensable  constituent.     Though  it  have  the  most  of 
a  collective  character,  it  connects  directly  with  the  first,  and 


72      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Its  homoge- 
neity. 


In  the  pro- 
letariate are 
developed 
the  general 
features  of 
Humanity. 


yet  that  first  has  the  most  of  an  individual  character  ;  for  the 
proletaries  do  not,  any  more  than  women,  form  a  class,  properly 
so-called.  The  proletariate  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  general 
milieu  from  out  of  which  the  two  special  powers  take  their 
rise,  and  which  should  control  the  action  of  those  powers, 
because  it  constitutes  the  object  of  that  action. 

The  real  character  of  the  popular  constituent  is  best  seen  in 
its  inherent  homogeneity,  which  it  maintains  under  the  con- 
tinuous pressure  of  influences  in  the  contrary  direction.  The 
hierarchy  gradually  established  in  the  patriciate  does  not 
apply  to  the  proletariate,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  subordination 
of  workmen  to  capitalists,  which  has  been  on  the  increase  ever 
since  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Difference  of  employ- 
ments, nay,  even  national  differences,  are  lost  in  the  community 
of  position  and  object.  The  similarity  becomes  more  easy 
to  appreciate  if  placed  in  contrast  with  the  habitual  tendencies- 
to  rivalry  of  the  industrial  chiefs.  The  only  point  where  it 
fails  is  in  the  division  which  exists  between  the  agricultural 
labourers  and  those  of  the  towns.  Now  the  separation  between 
these  two  depends  not  so  much  on  difference  of  work  as  on  the 
moral  and  intellectual  inferiority  of  the  rural  population.  This 
transitory  consequence  of  the  inequality  in  their  advance  will 
disappear  under  a  common  education,  and  when  it  disappears 
all  proletaries,  in  town  or  country,  will  awake  to  a  sense  of 
their  intrinsic  uniformity,  which  has  an  immediate  bearing  on 
the  success  to  which  they  are  entitled  in  realising  their  common 
aspirations. 

These  considerations  may  show  us  that  the  mass  of  the 
people  really  has  no  peculiar  features,  but  offers  us  only  the 
general  characteristics  of  Humanity,  masked  in  its  different 
chiefs  by  their  respective  functions.  The  peculiar  office  of  the 
proletariate  lends  itself  best  to  the  rise  of  a  community  of  feel- 
ing in  regard  to  the  harmony  of  the  state,  or  of  the  world ; 
given  such  social  arrangements  as  shall  allow  it  the  proper 
leisure  requisite  for  it  to  avail  itself  of  the  advantages  of  its 
position — the  advantages  of  its  disengagement  in  heart  and 
intellect.  Owing  to  the  simple  character  of  their  special  work, 
proletaries  are  the  least  synthetic  of  the  constituent  elements  of 
Sociocracy,  whilst  their  poverty  is  a  hindrance  to  their  being  as 
sympathetic  as  their  chiefs  may  be.  For  this  reason  there  will 
always  be  a  disposition  in  the  proletariate  to  protest  against  the 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE   GEEAT  BEING.  73 

classification  by  offices  here  given,  and  to  prefer  the  classifica- 
tion of  individuals  by  personal  merit,  independently  of  social 
position.  Herein  lies  the  main  source  of  the  attributes  which 
characterise,  and  of  the  dangers  ■which  attach  to,  the  influence 
of  the  people,  an  influence  which  is  equally  adapted  to  regulate 
or  to  disturb  the  common  harmony,  according  to  the  direction 
it  takes. 

It  should  be  a  leading  aim  in  the  institutions  of  Sociocracy  Means  for 
to  give  a  systematic  direction  to  the  power  of  number — a  power  direction  of 
not  unfrequently  an  element  of  temporary  disturbance,  but  on  number. 
which  it  devolves  to  give  completeness,  by  its  constant  interven- 
tion, to  the  social  order,  the  true  foundations  of  which  are  wealth 
and  wisdom.  Such  a  change  in  the  action  of  number  depends 
rather  on  the  people  itself  than  on  the  influence  of  its  circum- 
stances. The  first  requisite  is,  that  the  people  of  its  own 
impulse  renounce  the  use  of  force,  in  all  cases  confining  its  just 
resistance  to  this  or  that  abuse  of  authority,  temporal  or 
spiritual,  to  the  refusal  to  cooperate  or  to  the  withholding  its 
assent,  the  sole  form  of  conte,st  admissible  in  the  Sociocracy. 
In  the  second  place,  the  people  must  so  far  shake  off  class 
selfishness  as  not  to  look  upon  itself  as  the  essential  object  of 
the  whole  social  economy.  The  Positive  religion  will  make 
the  people  feel  that,  unworthy  parasites  excepted,  all  men  are 
practically  fellow-labourers  in  a  continuous  work,  a  work  never 
having  for  its  object  any  one  group,  however  large,  but  always 
concerning  the  whole  of  mankind.  At  bottom,  the  existing  gene- 
ration labours  for  that  part  of  the  subjective  population  which  is 
to  be,  as  the  part  which  has  been,  laboured  for  it.  Continuity, 
by  the  systematic  teaching  of  the  priesthood,  once  recognised  as 
superior  to  solidarity,  the  proletariate  will,  of  its  own  impulse, 
support  the  priesthood  by  virtue  of  the  tendency  of  its  form 
of  activity  to  abstraction  and  unselfishness,  bearing,  as  it  does 
mainly,  on  the  future  of  the  race. 

A  further  and  last  requisite  for  the  personal  regeneration  of  The  proie- 
the  proletariate  must  be  a  firmer  control  over  their  self-re-  restrain'^ts' 
garding  instincts,  a  greater  cultivation  of  their  social.      In  fngtoTcts. 
regard  to  the  former,  the  main  eflbrt  will  concern  the  love  of 
gain,  to  which  their  position  offers  a  constant  stimulus,  while 
it  as  naturally  protects  them  against  pride  and  vanity,  the 
faults  of  their  leaders,  whether  practical  or  theoretical.      Once 
protected  as  a  body  from  the  pressure  of  want,  they  will  feel 


74      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

the  contradiction  involved  in  the  outcry  against  the  selfish- 
ness and  idleness  of  the  rich,  whilst  the  poor  make  it  the  final 
end  and  aim  of  their  own  exertions  to  reach  the  same  ignoble 
state.  Guided  by  the  priesthood,  the  proletaries  will  stigmatise 
any  tendency  to  leave  the  class  as  a  slur  upon  the  dignity 
of  the  popular  function,  and  as  fatal  to  the  just  aspirations 
of  the  people,  those  who  desert  it  invariably  betraying  it. 
In  the  second  place,  the  plebeians — better  placed  for  the 
attainment  of  domestic  happiness  than  the  patricians  and  the 
priests — whilst  they  cultivate  attachment,  will  add  to  it  venera- 
tion for  all  their  leaders,  even  in  the  midst  of  civil  or  religious 
disputes.  Their  position  as  inferiors  may  seem  to  deny  them 
the  exercise  of  benevolence,  for  benevolence  implies  protection ; 
yet  in  reality  there  is  ample  scope  for  it,  as  it  is  the  Proletariate 
which  presides  over  the  relations  of  man  with  the  animals.  , 
The  developement  of  the  life  of  sympathy,  in  regard  to  these 
two  instincts,  will,  more  easily  vrith  the  proletariate  than  else- 
where, be  carried  on  under  the  constant  influence  of  women, 
the  best  types  of  the  sex  being  found  in  its  ranks. 
External  Thcsc  personal  requirements  met,  those  of  its  position  in  the 

Sociocracy — the  external  conditions  of  its  well-being — will  be 
satisfied  by  the  due  performance  on  the  part  of  the  priesthood 
and  the  patriciate  of  the  conditions  which  depend  on  them. 
These  concern  first  education,  next  labour,  as  indicated  in  the 
Greneral  View  and  to  be  completely  explained  in  the  present 
volume.  Destined  for  the  proletaries  above  all,  the  encyclo- 
paedic instruction  will  enable  them  at  once  to  give  greater  value 
to  their  own  more  special  action,  by  virtue  of  the  several  connec- 
tions which  exist  between  industry  and  science,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  render  more  effective  their  general  supervision  by 
appealing  to  the  common  doctrine.  As  for  labotu,  its  normal 
conditions  have  been  adequately  stated  in  the  second  volume, 
allowing  for  the  further  explanations  to  be  given  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  present  volume.  At  present  I  need  only  add 
that  the  guarantees  of  labour  are  not  limited  to  the  securing 
the  labourer  against  want,  but  extend  to  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual elevation  of  the  proletariate,  the  object  being  to  allow 
the  universal  attainment  of  family  life,  in  the  name  equally  of 
order  and  of  progress.  The  several  conditions  required  for  this 
purpose  will  be  satisfied  when,  as  a  consequence  of  the  volun- 
tary acceptance  of  the  sedentary  form  of  human  activity,  the. 


Chap.  I.]  THEORY  OF  THE  GREAT  BEING.  75 

quiet  of  industrial  communities  will  no  longer  be  disturbed  by 
a  nomad  labouring  class,  an  evidence  at  once  of  the  neglect  of 
the  superiors,  of  the  degradation  of  the  inferiors.  The  above 
remarks,  however,  show  that,  to  attain  its  complete  form,  the 
sociocratic  constitution  of  the  proletariate  must  await  the 
advent  of  a  patriciate  worthy  of  the  name,  though  the  regene- 
ration of  the  plebeians  must  precede  and  even  prepare  the  way 
for  that  of  the  patricians. 

If  we  combine  our  observations,  they  give  a  sufficient  pic-  conclusion. 
ture  of  the  Sociocracy  in  the  concrete  to  support  the  state- 
ment, that  the  Positive  religion  in  its  abstract  form  is  compe- 
tent to  regulate  human  life  in  all  its  parts,  through  its  great 
fundamental  theory,  the  theory  of  the  Great  Being.  In  this  way 
the  constitution  of  Sociocracy  is  the  continuous  developement 
of  the  sacred  formula  of  Positivism,  which  consequently  iden- 
tifies private  with  public  life.  By  •  the  laws  of  her  being, 
woman  gives  the  impulse,  acted  on  by  which  the  patriciate 
becomes  the  organ  of  order,  the  proletariate  the  organ  of  pro- 
gress, the  priesthood  systematically  combining  order  with  pro- 
gress. 

On  the  general  basis  here  laid,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
original  plan,  the  second  chapter  is  devoted  to  an  exposition 
in  detail  of  the  worship  which  has  to  govern  our  affective  life 
by  forming  the  regular  connection  between  the  objective  and 
subjective  stages  of  our  existence. 


76       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


CHAPTER   II. 

GENEKAL   TIEW    OF    THE    AM"ECTIVE   LIFE, 

or, 

DEFINITIVE  STSTEMATISATION    OF   THE   POSITIVE  SYSTEM   OF  ■WOBSHIP. 


Heasons  for 
the  previous 
arrange- 


precJieTth?  "^^^  nature  and  object  of  this  chapter  -will  be  set  in  a  clear  light 
ttufRegtae  ^J  ^^®  introductory  remarks  elicited  by  its  heading,  in  that  it 
places,  in  the  system  of  the  Positive  religion,  the  worship  not 
merely  before  the  regime  but  before  the  doctrine.  This  un- 
usual arrangement  is  a  modification  of  the  order  adopted  in  the 
second  volume  in  the  General  Theory  of  Religion  (Vol.  II.  pp. 
17-20).  It  requires  then  a  special  justification.  For  this,  I 
may  confine  myself  to  the  simple  enunciation  of  the  considera- 
tions which  suggested  it  to  me.  The  statement  of  them  will,  I 
hope,  show  the  change  to  be  quite  legitimate,  and  the  pro- 
priety of  it  characteristic  of  the  true  religion. 

From  an  excess  of  deference  for  my  Catholic  predecessors,  I 
was  led  originally  to  place  the  doctrine  before  the  worship, 
without  asking  myself  the  question  :  Was  this  arrangement  in 
as  full  accordance  with  the  genius  of  the  new  synthesis  as  it  was 
with  that  of  the  older  ?  An  over-estimate  of  the  importance  of 
logical  sequence  induced  me  subsequently  to  adhere  to  it,  in 
order  that  the  worship  might  rest  on  a  scientific  basis.  But  the 
practical  application  of  the  original  arrangement  has  gradually 
convinced  me  that  it  was  defective  synthetically. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  at  issue  with  the  fundamental  for- 
mula of  Positivism,  in  which  love  precedes  order,  as  order  pre- 
cedes progress  ;  and  love  is  the  domain  of  the  worship,  order 
that  of  the  doctrine,  progress  of  the  life.  In  the  second  place, 
it  is  contradicted  by  the  general  theory  of  human  nature,  which 
puts  feeling  above  intelligence  and  activity,  the  two  indispen- 
sable servants  of  feeling.  Lastly,  it  is  at  variance  with  the 
regular  course  of  Positive  education,  in  which  the  succession  is : 
the  education  of  the  feelings,  tlie  education  of  the  intellect,  and 
the  education  of  our  active  powers. 


Reasons 
against  it. 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  77 

This  threefold  discrepancy  is  a  sufficient  i  ustification  of  the   The  diBcrn- 

'  ■'  •'  panoy  justi- 

new  arrangement,  implicitly  announced  in  the  last  chapter,  fiesthe 
■when  I  placed  art  above  science.  All  who  can  appreciate 
the  natural  pre-eminence  of  questions  of  order,  will  be  at 
once  conscious  of  the  importance  attaching  to  this  inversion 
of  the  previous  arrangement,  condensing  as  it  does  the 
general  contrast  between  Theologism  and  Positivism.  But,  to 
clear  up  the  point,  I  must  first  enter  on  a  direct  investigation 
of  the  grounds  of  the  original  arrangement.  > 

The  strongest  was  the  fictitious  character  of  the  provisional 
religion,  when  worship  was  paid  to  imaginary  beings,  and  there- 
fore must  have  the  doctrines  to  rest  upon  as  the  sole  source  of 
our  knowledge  of  those  beings.  This  indispensable  prerequisite, 
never  systematised  in  Polytheism,  was  reduced  to  a  system  under 
its  Monotheistic  concentration.  But  in  both  stages  a  custom  of 
universal  adoption  heralded  the  ultimate  predominance  of  the 
worship,  for  it  was  the  worship  which  habitually  gave  its  desig- 
nation to  the  whole  religious  system. 

This  first  arrangement,  then,  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  temporary  The  previous 
inversion  of  the  normal  order,  though  the  adoption  of  the  latter  SporaT™' 
was  impossible  till  such  time  as  our  adoration  should  be  paid  to 
a  being  by  its  nature  within  the  cognisance  of  all.  It  is  true 
that,  as  yet,  the  education  of  our  feelings  does  not  propose  the 
knowledge  of  Humanity  as  its  aim,  but  the  last  chapter  has 
so  far  stated  the  whole  Positive  doctrine  as  to  warrant  our 
proceeding  to  expound  the  worship  without  any  violation  of 
rational  method. 

The  worship  is  the  best  expression  of  the  state  of  complete  TheWorsUp 
synthesis,  the  state  in  which  all  our  knowledge,  scientific  and  sion^/'the" 
practical,  finds  its  condensation  in  Morals.      The  grand  object  state!^''"'' 
of  religion  being  to   teach  us  to  live  for  others,  it  must  essen- 
tially consist  in  regulating  the  direct  cultivation  of  our  sym- 
pathetic instincts.     In  fact  such  would   be   its  sole  function, 
were  it  not  that  our  physical  wants  necessitate  the  addition 
both  of  the  doctrine  and  the  regime,  so  by  man's  own  exertions 
to  give  an  altruistic  character  to  the  natural  egoism  of  his  in- 
cessant aictivity. 

To  complete  the  justification  of  the  order  ultimately 
adopted,  it  is  necessary  to  give  greater  precision  to  the  above 
explanation  of  the  provisional  arrangement,  by  presenting  it  as 
simply  coeval  with  Theologism,  properly  so  called,  having  no 


78      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Apain  the 
affinity  be- 
tween 
Fetichism 
and 
^PositiTism. 


Superior 
synthetic 
power  of  the 
Keligion  of 
Humanity. 


Religion  is 
Worship. 


antecedent  in  Fetichism.  In  point  of  fact,  religion  in  Fetich- 
ism  was  worship,  and  nothing  more.  It  was  so  absolutely 
spontaneous  that  its  dogmatic  element  was  a  mere  matter  of 
intuition;  and  its  regime  was  limited  to  the  exercise  of  our  sym- 
pathies, such  was  the  then  rudimentary  condition  of  human 
activity.  Consequently  the  definitive  order  adopted  by  the 
Positive  religion  is  but  the  systematisation  of  the  instinctive 
practice  of  the  first-  childhood  of  the  race,  through  the  final 
removal  of  an  anomaly  peculiar  to  its  second  childhood — and 
in  an  eminent  degree  harmonising  with  its  adolescence. 

This  fresh  contact  between  the  two  extreme  syntheses  which 
are  ultimately  destined  to  coalesce,  is  possible,  from  the  fact 
that  in  both  alike  the  objects  of  worship  are  actual  beings,  and 
come  within  our  immediate  cognisance.  There  is  this  dif- 
ference, that,  in  the  primaeval  state,  adoration  was  objective  and 
simple,  in  the  normal  state  it  is  subjective  and  complex;  but 
it  is  a  difference  which  will  not  affect  the  character  of  spon- 
taneity common  to  the  two,  when  Positive  education  shall  have 
become  sufficiently  general.  The  Positivist  worships  results, 
the  Fetichist  worships  materials ;  but  both  alike  invoke  the 
protection  of  the  same  supreme  power,  only  their  conceptions 
of  that  power  are  distinct,  yet  not  irreconcilable. 

The  two  forms,  then,  the  instinctive  and  systematic,  under 
which  the  religion  of  Humanity  successively  presents  itself, 
alike  disclaim  the  inversion,  necessitated  provisionally  by  the 
intermediate  synthesis,  but  disappearing  forever  in  the  ulti- 
mate combination  of  the  extremes.  In  both  forms  there  is  a 
natural  correlation  between  the  worship  and  the  life,  whereas 
Theologism,  even  as  Polytheism,  could  never  bring  the  two  into 
satisfactory  agreement.  The  definitive  order  of  the  three  parts 
of  religion  furnishes  a  decisive  proof  of  the  superiority  of 
Positivism  in  point  of  synthesis,  and  justifies  the  normal  con- 
densation of  the  law  of  human  progress  when  we  state  it  as  an 
increasing  tendency  to  unity. 

In  accordance  with  this  indispensable  introduction,  I  have 
now  to  treat  of  religion  as  consisting  in  the  worship ;  and  in 
fact  the  worship  would  suffice  for  our  discipline,  could  our 
external  circumstances  become  such  as  to  allow  it.  The  hypo- 
thesis can  never  be  in  the  full  sense  realised,  but  the  aggre- 
gate progress  of  mankind  is  bringing  us  constantly  nearer  to  it, 
by   constantly   lessening  the  relative  importance  of  material 


Chap.  11.]  THE  WOESHIP.  79 

■wants,  this  change  being  a  consequence  of  the  accumulations 
due  to  our  foresight,  and  the  increase  of  power  they  give  us. 

Still,  in  assigning  the  worship  its  legitimate  rank,  we  must 
duly  take  into  account  its  necessary  connection  with  the  doc- 
trine and  the  life,  both  at  all  times  indispensable,  though  in  a 
decreasing  ratio,  to  its  fulfilment  of  its  moral  aim.  The  agree- 
ment of  the  three  is  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  Positivist 
formula,  if  we  take  its  three  terms  as  answering  to  the  three 
divisions  of  time.  For  love,  the  immediate  source  of  the 
worship,  in  the  main  has  reference  to  the  future ;  order,  the 
intellectual  province  of  the  doctrine,  is  derived  principally 
from  the  past;  progress,  the  practical  object  of  the  life,  stands 
in  closer  relation  with  the  present.  Now,  it  is  the  future  which 
becomes,  and  rightly,  the  more  prominent  consideration  in  pro- 
portion as  man's  action  becomes  more  collective  in  its  character. 
During  the  initiation  of  the  race,  man  constantly  laboured  for 
his  successors,  in  the  Family  originally,  then  in  the  State.  It 
remains  for  him,  in  the  period  of  maturity,  to  guide  this  instinct 
systematically,  and  make  it  subserve  the  interests  of  Posterity 
in  the  widest  sense. 

The  paramount  importance   attached  to  the  future  is  ade-  Prominence 
quate  as  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  normal  state  of  Hu-  acharacter- 
manity,  pointing  as  it  does  to  deliberate  action,  and  deliberate  nomaistate. 
action  implies  constant  prevision.     And  yet,  at  first  sight,  such 
a  view,  whilst  ulteriorly  pointing  to  the  supremacy  of   the 
worship,  would  seem  to  make  it  intellectually  dependent  on  the 
doctrine,  as  necessary  for  the  interpretation  of  the  past,  on 
which  rests  our  conception  of  the  future.     The  apparent  con- 
tradiction disappears  if  we  distinguish  between  the  analytical 
and  synthetical  arrangements,  both  of  which  are  admissible  for 
the  universal  doctrine.  • 

In  fact,  it  is  on  the  synthetical  form  that  the  worship  must  The  two  ar- 
rest ;  it  is  this  which  it  idealises,  and  by  idealising  developes.  of  the  doo- 
So  little  is  the  analytical  a  prerequisite,  that  the  worship  is  a 
necessary  condition  of  its  right  formation.  Its  actual  impor- 
tance is  solely  an  empirical  result  of  the  objective  character  of 
the  scientific  process  required  as  a  preparation  for  the  Positive 
method.  In  his  adult  period,  man  will  correct  the  habits  pro- 
visionally formed,  and  satisfy  reason  and  feeling  alike,  by  con- 
stantly subordinating  analysis  to  synthesis.  The  two  forms  of 
the  doctrinal  system  will  then,  each  in  accordance  with  its 


trine. 


80      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     T    ;  pu'^'-'J^E  OF  MAN. 


If  the  objec- 
tion to 
placing  the 
Worship 
first  were 
valid,  it 
would  have 
to  be  placed 
a^ter  the 
Begime. 


nature,  subserve,  the  one  the  worship,  vne  other  the  regime. 
This  allotment  of  their  provinces  answers  to  the  distinction 
between  the  subjective  creation  and  the  objective  appreciation 
of  the  central  dogma,  or  Humanity.  For  this  dogma  remains 
one  and  indivisible  so  long  as  it  is  the  immediate  basis  of 
morality  ;  its  division  is  allowable  only  when  it  is  looked  at  as 
the  condensation — a  condensation  imperatively  required — of 
the  whole  order  of  the  world. 

The  explanation  shows  that  the  only  plausible  reasons  for 
maintaining  the  older  arrangement  of  the  three  parts  of  reli- 
gion are  based  on  a  mistake,  viz.,  on  the  confusion  of  the  doc- 
trine, which  is  the  foundation  of  the  religion,  with  the  system 
of  dogmas  properly  so  called.  This  latter  is  really  nothing  but 
a  systematisation  of  an  analytical  kind,  necessary  for  our  action, 
but  by  the  nature  of  the  case,  secondary  to  the  synthetical  con- 
struction of  which  the  worship  is  the  natural  expression,  and 
therefore  it  is  with  the  worship  that  the  rational  study  of  Posi- 
tive unity  must  begin.  However  normal  this  course  may  be, 
it  would  yet  have  been  impossible  to  take  it,  had  we  not  made 
it  our  object  in  the  last  chapter  to  establish  directly  the  funda- 
mental theory  of  the  Great  Being. 

To  place  in  stronger  relief  the  unsoundness  of  the  reasons 
for  upholding  the  present  position  of  the  worship  after  the 
dogma,  it  must  be  added  that,  allowing  them  to  be  valid, 
they  would  lead  to  its  being  placed  after  the  regime,  as  there 
must  be  a  general  conception  of  the  regime  or  the  worship 
would  be  a  failure.  The  truth  is,  the  worship  can  idealise  the 
two  other  parts  of  the  religion  when  yet  undeveloped  analyti- 
cally ;  all  that  is  required  is,  a  clear  synthetical  conception  of 
them,  s"uch  a  conception  as  may  guide  us  in  their  definitive 
systematisation.  All  the  scientific  notions,  cosmological,  bio- 
logical, and,  above  all,  sociological,  requisite  for  the  theory  of 
the  Great  Being,  have  been  firmly  established  in  the  three  pre- 
ceding volumes  on  the  basis  of  science  formed  into  a  complete 
whole.  This  enabled  me,  at  the  opening  of  the  present  volume, 
to  proceed  at  once  to  the  construction  of  the  theory  itself,  a 
construction  which  involves  the  conjoint  establishment  of  the 
three  divisions  of  religion,  with  a  view  to  their  ulterior  separation, 
under  proper  conditions,  for  the  purposes  of  study.  Such  sepa- 
rate consideration  of  them  is  the  condition  of  any  satisfactory 
systematisation  of  the  doctrine  and  the  regime,  the  objective 


€kap.  II.]  '  "THE  WOESHIP.  81 

analysis  giving  completeness  to  the  subjective  synthesis  by 
■which  alone  it  could  be  guided.  The  outline  already  given 
qualifies  us  however  for  now  proceeding  directly  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  worship,  as  the  principal  portion  of  the  religion, 
the  portion  in  which  the  idea  and  the  feeling  of  unity  find  their 
best  expression.  At  no  distant  period  Positivism  will  correct  in 
all  the  provisional  habits  which  are  the  result  of  the  existing  con- 
dition of  things,  with  its  proud  sense  of  revolution,  and  its  con- 
sequent stimulation  of  the  reason  of  the  individual  to  construct 
a  universal  synthesis  independently  of  all  collective  influences. 

The  preliminary  explanation  here  ended  leads  me  to  ex-  «  Destiim- 

^  J  J.  ^  tion,  and 

amine,  in  the  first  place,  the  destination  of  the  Positive  cultus  :  C")  N^tm-e 
secondly,  its  nature  in  the  general ;  before  I  give  its  direct  fMp. 
exposition  in  detail,  which  must  be  the  great  object  of  the 
chapter. 

We  adore  Humanity  in  order  to  serve  her  better  by  the  aid  The  sj-mpa- 
of  fuller  knowledge  j  worship  then  cannot  but  modify,  under  all  stmcts  its 
its  aspects,  the  existence  which,  as  a  whole,  is  represented  in  main. 
the  constitution  of  the  Great  Being.     But  the  normal  prefer- 
ence of  the  worship  to  the  two  other  constituents  of  the  uni- 
versal religion  rests  on  this  ground  mainly,  that  it  has  for  its 
principal  domain  the  direct  and  persistent  encouragement  of 
our  instincts  of  sympathy,  the  sole  source  of  the  Positive  tmity. 
Once  grasp  this  idea  of  Sociolatry,  and  we  are  qualified  to  ap- 
preciate its  influence  on  thought  and  even  on  action. 

The  Positive  worship  depends  for  its  efficacy  entirely  on  worship  the 


exercise  ot 


the  fundamental  law  by  which  the  continuous  improvement  of  aiimv 

.     «i  1  ,„,..!..  .  faculties, 

man's  faculties  is  the  result  of  their  judicious  exercise.  In  the 
adoration  of  the  Great  Being  these  faculties  find  a  simultaneous 
exercise,  as  it  always  expresses  our  emotions  in  an  idealised 
form.  Practically,  the  idealisation  of  our  altruistic  instincts 
consists  more  especially  in  their  purification  from  their  ordinaiy 
admixture  of  egoism.  So  purified,  they  becorhe  in  the  fullest 
sense  communicable,  and  the  communication  requires  the  com- 
bined and  persistent  exertion  of  our  intellectual  and  active 
powers.  It  does  not,  that  is,  call  into  play  merely  the  function 
of  language,  but  also  contemplation,  abstract  or  concrete,  nay 
even  meditation,  deductive  no  less  than  inductive  meditation. 
As,  for  expression,  when  perfect,  all  the  muscles  of  outward 
action  are  brought  into  use,  it  follows  that  communication 
makes  a  demand  on  the  whole  active  life,  whether  we  consider 
VOL.  IV.  G 


82     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  OF  MAJf. 


The  syn- 
thetic ideali- 
sation of  our 
existence. 


Comparison 
of  expres- 
don  and 
action. 


it  in  its  instruments,  the  muscles,  or  in  its  organs  in  the  brain. 
Even  when  the  outward  manifestation  is  limited  to  the  voice, 
without  the  aid  of  either  gestures  or  attitudes,  no  part  of  our 
whole  active  system  escapes  its  influence,  from  the  close  con- 
nection which  allows  each  several  part  to  substitute  its  cerebral 
influence  for  that  of  the  other  parts. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  worship  becomes  the  synthetic 
idealisation  of  the  life  which  it  is  its  function  to  perfect.  It 
consecrates  all  the  parts  of  that  life,  by  their  direct  cooperation 
in  the  adoration  of  the  Grreat  Being ;  but  it  does  more,  it  assigns 
them  all  their  proper  rank,  by  vindicating  the  constant  pre- 
eminence of  feeling  over  intellect,  of  intellect  over  activity. 
The  power  to  do  this  is  seen,  it  is  true,  in  a  rudimentary  form 
in  the  provisional  religion,  but  it  is  the  peculiar  property  of  the 
definitive  cultus,  a  property  derived  from  its  unselfishness  no 
less  than  from  its  reality.  For  the  synthesis  based  on  imagina- 
tion never  gave  a  sanction  to  the  benevolent  instincts,  nay  it 
even  denied  their  existence  when  it  was  condensed  into  Mono- 
theism, and  consequently  the  worship,  in  Theology,  could  but 
indirectly  cultivate  them.  Their  direct  cultivation,  on  the 
contrary,  becomes  the  leading  object  of  Sociolatry,  from  the 
purely  sympathetic  character  of  the  object  of  its  worship  ;  and 
the  result  is,  that  in  the  Positive  system  of  cultus  we  have  the 
best  source  of  the  just  ascendancy  of  altruism  over  egoism. 

To  complete  our  view,  it  is  desirable  to  place  in  direct 
juxtaposition  expression  and  action,  the  object  of  the  comparison 
being  to  obviate  any  charge  of  mysticism  or  quietism.  The 
exaggeration  of  feeling  which  leads  to  the  neglect  of  works,  ia 
favour  of  the^  exclusive  cultivation  of  the  inward  dispositions, 
could  have  no  serious  importance  except  in  the  theological 
period,  and  even  there  it  was  due  rather  to  hypocrisy  than  to 
error,  as  is  seen  by  its  not  arising  till  the  decline  of  the  system. 
If  the  sincere  culture  of  sympathy,  even  when  indirect,  was  cal- 
culated to  be  a  preservative  against  this  excess,  it  is  one  which 
will  easily  be  removed  by  the  direct  cultivation  of  benevolence, 
resulting  from  the  whole  system  of  adoration. 

Over  and  above  the  particular  results  which  are  the  proper 
aim  of  action,  action  has  more  power  than  expression  to  excite 
altruism  through  the  medium  of  the  brain,  inasmuch  as  it  leads 
to  an  exertion  requiring  greater  effort.  It  follows  that  nothing 
will  ever  equal  the  practice,  even  with  intermissions,  stiU  more 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  83 

the  habitual  practice,  of  good  works  as  a  means  of  cultivating 
our  sympathetic  instincts.  Expression  has  however  several 
natural  advantages  over  action,  and  therefore,  weaker  though  it 
be  than  action,  it  will  always  remain  indispensable  to  the  full 
developement  of  our  emotional  nature. 

As  expression  depends  on  ourselves  exclusively,  whilst  action  Expression. 
is  dependent  on  the  external  world,  action  is  intermittent, 
expression  alone  can  be  permanent  under  one  or  other  of  its 
various  forms.  Again,  action  is  not  only  less  at  our  command 
than  expression,  but  is  often  of  a  more  mixed  character.  In  the 
first  place  it  almost  invariably  demands  efforts  of  the  intellect 
or  of  the  body,  and  these  cannot  but  impair  its  results  in  point 
of  sympathy.  But  in  action  we  have,  above  all,  the  complication 
habitually  arising  of  selfish  motives  mingling  with  our  bene- 
volent impulses.  The  only  case  in  which  we  avoid  these  two 
disturbing  forces  is  when  the  brain  devotes  all  its  powers  to 
perfect  our  unity  through  the  direct  expression  of  love,  with  no 
external  aim  in  particular. 

A  cultus  of  this  kind  has  to  discipline  our  action  and  there- 
fore can  never  lead  us  to  despise  it.  For  it  fosters  the  affections 
which  urge  us  to  the  direct  pursuit  of  the  good.  If  our  devo- 
tions seemed  to  lead  to  inertness,  such  a  degradation  wotild 
necessarily  imply  a  want  of  sincerity. 

If  we  analyse  the  moral  influence  of  Positive  worship  with  ^^^„g'|jj 
reference  to  the  distinction  between  the  three  altruistic  instincts,  'J;^  Positire 

'     worship 

we  find  that  it  is  greatest  as  concerns  the  instinct  which  by  its  P;™'"' 
organ  and  its  function  is  in  closest  connection  with  the  two 
others.  The  exercise  of  the  affections  which  is  the  direct  result 
of  adoration  more  particularly  concerns  veneration,  not  merely 
veneration  for  the  Great  Being,  but  for  its  worthy  represen- 
tatives, as  is  indicated  by  the  prevailing  attitude.  Now  the 
instinct  of  veneration  is  the  one  in  most  constant  use  as  thp 
normal  basis  of  true  discipline,  and  at  the  same  time  it  has  the 
least  strongly  marked  character  as  being  nearly  independent  of 
the  influences  of  the  selfish  instincts.  Be  it  remembered  however 
that  it  cannot  act  without  stimulating  by  its  action  benevolence 
and  attachment,  between  which  it  is  the  connecting  link  both 
statically  and  dynamically.  Language  bears  special  witness  to 
this  connection  in  the  admirable  expression  piete  (pietas),  a 
term  primarily  implying  respect,  but,  by  a  natural  extension, 
embracing  all  the  sympathetic  instincts.     Again,  the  two  other 

G   2 


84     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

altruistic  feelings  receive  direct  encouragement  from  an  adora- 
tion which  has  gratitude  and  love  for  its  invariable  basis. 
Benevolence,  strictly  so  called,  implies,  it  is  true,  protection, 
yet  it  is  specially  called  into  play  in  the  Positive  worship,  most 
particularly  towards  the  Great  Being,  not  merely  through  imi- 
tation of  that  highest  type,  but  also  as  a  consequence  of  the 
nature  of  Humanity,  who  can  never  dispense  with  the  aid  of 
her  servants. 
(2)  Egoism.  Sociolatry  is  by  its  very  conception  emancipated  from  the 

interested  motives  which   were  paramount  in  the  worship  of 
Theologism,  nay  even  of  Fetichism ;  yet  it  grants  the  self  regard- 
ing instincts  the  culture  they  require  for  their  due  cooperation 
in  the  practical  conduct  of  life.     In  the  first  place,  it  stamps, 
them  with  its  direct  sanction  as  the  permanent  basis  of  the  con- 
servation of  the  individual,  and  the  primary  source  of  the  action 
of  society.     Secondly,  their  relations  severally  with  the  social 
instincts    procure    them  in  the  Positive  worship  an  indirect 
stimulus   in   constant    dependence  on  their  >  influence  on  our 
sympathies,  and  therefore  not  liable  to  abuse.     This  combination 
of  sanction  and  discipline  is  especially  applicable  in  the  case  of 
the  higher  personal  instincts,  pride  and  vanity,  as  more  amenable 
to  social  influences.     But  it  applies  also  to  all  the  other  per- 
sonal motors,  not  excepting  the  instinct  of  destruction,  each 
and  all  admitting  an  altruistic  direction. 
?nflSnra!°of  '^^^  proper  province  of  Sociolatry  is  our  emotional  life,  and 

Sociolatry.     ^j^  jg  ^q  ^]jig  ^hat  this  chapter  as  a  whole  is  devoted ;  so  that 
having  sufficiently  explained  its  influence  on  that  life  in  the 
general,    I  must  now  explain   its  power  in   reference  to  in- 
tellect, first  in  the  domain  of  art,  then  in  that  of  science. 
Art.  The  true  definition  of  the  two  terms,  art  and  worship,  is 

sufficient  to  show  the  inseparable  connection  between  them,  a 
connection  recognised  as  a  matter  of  experience  by  Theologism, 
but  which  it  devolves  on  Positivism  to  adopt  and  expand  on 
rational  grounds,  whilst  it  accepts  the  spontaneous  character  it 
wears  in  Fetichism.  In  art  and  worship  equally,  improvement 
is  ever  the  direct  end  of  all  our  efforts.  In  the  worship  it  is 
always  moral  progress,  and  therefore  the  worship  alone  can 
withdraw  art  from  its  natural  predilection  for  physical  beauty, 
the  beauty  most  easy  to  represent  as  it  is  most  easy  to  feel. 
Sociolatry,  by  displaying  the  charm  inherent  in  the  altruistic 
affections,  throws  open,  to  poetry  its  noblest  field,  one  which 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  85 

under  the  egoistic  syntliesis  was  necessarily  relegated  to  a 
subordinate  place.  Besides  this  general  affinity  between  art 
and  the  worship  of  Humanity,  that  worship  lends  a  special 
sanction  to  the  three  modes  or  degrees  of  all  art  of  whatever 
kind,  imitation,  idealisation,  expression.  For  it  imitates  the 
highest  type,  and  yet  ever  idealises  it  in  its  expression  of  the 
emotions  that  type  inspires.  Conversely,  as  each  act  of  worship 
of  the  Grreat  Being,  indirect  or  direct,  is  by  the  nature  of  the 
case  a  work  of  art,  art  in  its  turn  is  seen  to  be  an  essential 
complement  of  the  worship  of  Humanity,  into  which  it  is  once 
and  for  ever  incorporated. 

This  incorporation,  by  relieving  art  from  the  degrading 
anarchy  which  was  the  result  of  its  throwing  off  the  yoke  of 
Theocracy,  is  as  calculated  to  develope  as  to  discipline  and 
ennoble  it.  The  absorption  of  the  poetical  into  the  sacerdotal 
function,  in  conformity  at  once  with  our  instinct  and  reason, 
will  always  obviate  the  lowering  tendency  inherent  in  the 
exclusive  devotion  of  any  life  to  expression.  "When  the  language  itaUan. 
of  Dante  and  Ariosto  shall  have  become  the  universal.language, 
having  previously  been  the  sacred  language,  it  will  have 
acquired  one  by  one  the  additional  excellences  it  needs  to 
qualify  it  as  the  fit  organ  of  the  greater  poetic  achievements 
reserved  for  the  ripe  age  of  human  genius.  But  the  use  of 
that  language  will  not  be  limited  to  such  exceptional  efforts 
confined  to  the  more  eminent  members  of  the  priesthood ;  it 
will  be  the  language  used  by  all  worshippers  of  the  Great 
Being  in  their  daily  expressions  of  their  emotions,  both  in 
private  and  in  public.  Its  musical  capacity  will  lead  as  a 
natural  result  to  its  adoption  as  the  regular  transition  from 
the  fundamental  art  to  the  highest  of  the  more  special  arts 
which  are  the  complement  of  poetry,  and  which  in  Positive 
education  will  become  familiar  to  all  as  a  means  of  perfecting 
our  whole  worship.  Whilst,  however,  vocal  expression  assumes 
more  and  more  prominence  it  must  not  do  so  to  the  detriment 
of  the  plastic  art,  the  language  of  form,  less  sympathetic  it  may 
be  under  any  of  its  three  forms,  but  more  synthetic,  as  the  eye 
is  more  synthetic  than  the  ear.  Each  of  the  three,  and  painting- 
more  than  any,  independently  of  its  own  peculiar  destination, 
will  bring  its  valuable  contribution  to  the  Positive  culture,  and 
will  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  all  by  the  normal  education. 

Taken  together,  these  hints  are  sufficient  to  express  the 


SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Theory  or 
Science. 


TMs  Influ- 
ence con- 
sidered with 
reference  to 
Method  and 
Doctrine. 

Method. 


Soctriae. 


influence  of  Sociolatry  upon  art,  reserving  further  details  for 
the  remainder  of  the  chapter.  Its  influence  on  theory  calls  for 
fuller  explanation,  for,  whereas  the  worship  absorbs  art,  science 
can  only  be  absorbed  in  the  doctrine. 

For  a  right  estimate  of  the  influence  in  question  we  must 
apportion  it  between  the  method  and  the  doctrine,  the  two 
being  too  often  confounded,  even  by  philosophers. 

From  the  logical  point  of  view,  the  worship  exercises 
a  greater  influence  than  art,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term, 
though  art  again  is  superior  to  science,  as  science  hitherto 
has  been  almost  limited  to  the  use  of  signs,  whereas  poetry 
combines  them  with  images.  In  science,  the  two  are  found  in 
combination  only  in  Mathematics,  and  even  there  their  com- 
bination is  not  anterior  to  the  remodelling  of  that  domain  by 
Descartes.  But,  although  it  is  a  combination  which  art  cannot 
avoid  employing  largely,  its  true  origin  is  to  be  found  in  the 
worship,  where  signs  without  images  can  never  meet  the 
demands  of  free  expression.  The  spontaneous  result  of  Fetich- 
ism,  the  object  of  special  attention  on  the  part  of  Theologism, 
it  is  in  Positivism  more  than  elsewhere  that  the  alliance  of  the 
two  finds  its  proper  place,  as  the  principal  objects  of  Positivist 
adoration  are  in  the  fullest  sense  subjective.  Still,  logically, 
the  superiority  of  the  worship  of  Humanity  lies  in  its  power,  a 
power  exclusively  its  own,  to  perfect  the  combination  of  signs 
with  images  by  subordinating  it  to  the  feelings.  Theologism, 
it  is  true,  and  above  all  monotheistic  Theologism,  had  naturally 
initiated  this  ultimate  convergence  of  all  the  general  appliances 
which  could  facilitate  our  mental  efforts,  but  it  could  directly 
bring  to  bear  in  those  efforts- only  those  afiections  which  are 
least  calculated  to  assist  thought.  It  is  by  reducing  to 
system,  and  giving  effect  to,  the  instinctive  sanction  by 
Fetichism  of  our  sympathetic  instincts,  that  Positivism  alone 
organises  the  true  logic,  in  regard  to  which  the  worship 
will  always  be  of  more  ^■alue  than  the  doctrine,  by  virtue  of 
its  offering  a  better  coordination  of  its  three  constituent 
elements. 

If  from  the  method  we  turn  to  the  doctrine,  the  worship 
cannot  retain  this  superiority,  for  the  distinct  progi-ess  of  the 
doctrine  must  depend  on  the  dogmatic  system  properly  so-called. 
And  yet  even  here  the  efficacy,  as  an  intellectual  stimulus,  of 
worship — and  this  is  true  in  the  highest  degree  of  Positive 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  87 

worship — cannot  but  be  recognised  by  all  but  those  who  confuse 
infornaation  with  intelligence.  In  fact  the  worship  alone 
places  before  us  in  a  thoroughly  synthetic  form  the  general 
body  of  doctrine,  a  result  which  flows  directly  from  the  funda- 
mental theory  of  the  Great  Being.  Sociolatry  is  the  medium 
by  which  Morals  transmits  that  theory  to  Sociology,  as  a 
general  basis  for  the  analytical  investigation  which  is  to  furnish 
the  guidance  of  Sociocracy,  the  aim  being  to  make  religion  a 
reality.  But  over  and  above  this  most  comprehensive  object, 
the  influence  of  worship  on  theory  is  exerted  in  a  more  peculiar 
sense  with  reference  to  the  highest  portion  of  the  scientific 
domain.  The  initial  conception  of  moral  laws,  and  even 
intellectual  laws,  practically  could  not  but  originate  in  the 
impulse  given  by  woman,  and  in  the  inspiration  of  the  poet,  the 
natural  point  of  junction  for  the  two  being  the  worship ;  for 
science  was  reserved  the  discovery  of  physical  laws  following  m 
the  wake  of  action.  Now  the  capacity  of  the  worship  in  this 
respect  cannot  but  be  drawn  out  by  Positivism,  more  real  as  it 
is  and  more  unselfish  than  Theologism,  since  in  the  elaboration 
of  the  sociolatrical  system  it  is  urgent  to  keep  continually  in 
sight  its  relations  to  the  feelings  and  the  intellect. 

Treating  as  sufficient  this  examination  in  the  general  of  the  influence  of 

°  J.     ...  the  Worship 

efficacy  of  the  Positive  worship,  first  as  regards  the  feelmgs  onAotmty. 
then  as  regards  the  intellect,  I  have  to  complete  the  process  by 
extending  it  to  the  activity. 

Although  in  this  last  case  it  is  naturally  less  efficacious  than 
in  the  two  other,  yet  it  requires  a  distinct  consideration  in  this 
place.  Attaining  supremacy  solely  in  the  sphere  of  feeling,  the 
influence  of  the  worship  leaves  the  developement  of  the  intelli- 
gence to  the  dogma  in  especial,  whilst  that  of  the  activity  is 
reserved  for  the  regime.  Practical  life,  however,  no  less  than 
the  speculative  existence,  feels  the  advantage  of  the  training 
given  by  Sociolatry,  fuller  discipline  being  the  condition  of 
progi-ess  in  both. 

Human  action,  even  when  collective,  springing  originally  q„^'°°p^. 
from  personal  impulses,  requires  a  constant  process  of  purifica-  g^"5°i.™* 
tion,  and  nothing  but  the  worship  can  give  this.     The  pride  of  tiie  worship, 
the  practician  is  a  less  obstacle  than  the  vanity  of  the  theorician 
to  the  due  recognition  of  this  want.     Although  Theologism  on 
empirical  grounds  met  it  in  some  imperfect  degree,  its  syste- 
matic satisfaction  devolves  upon  Positivism  as  the  only  religion 


88     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  PUTUKE  OF  MAN. 


The  WorsMp 
universal, 
but  Bystema- 
tic  only  in 
reference  to 
the  more 
leading 
phases  of 
human  ex- 
istence. 


founded  on  the  trae  knowledge  of  human  nature.  Not  to  men- 
tion that  the  worship  of  Humanity  concentrates  all  our  practical 
faculties  on  the  noble  object  from  which  the  natural  preponde- 
rance of  egoism  always  tends  to  divert  them,  it  gives  a  distinct 
stimulus  to  each  of  those  faculties  by  constant  exercise.  It  is 
the  highest  in  particular  that  feels  this  influence  most,  since 
adoration  without  perseverance  either  never  attains,  or  loses  its 
moral  effect;  long  attention  being  required  for  the  original 
production,  as  for  the  continuance,  of  such  effect.  The  influence 
of  the  worship  extends  to  courage  also,  nay  even  to  prudence, 
as  may  be  seen  if  we  consider  the  energy  and  circumspection 
often  required  for  private  no  less  than  for  public  effusion.  The 
faithful  interpreter  of  all  the  relations  of  man,  language  has, 
since  the  Middle  Ages,  borne  witness  to  this  triple  influence  of 
the  worship,  for  it  applies  the  name  religious  practices  to  our 
habits  of  worship,  as  the  exertions  which  that  worship  requires, 
by  their  greater  persistence,  though  inferior  in  intensity,  con- 
stitute a  good  preparation  for  active  Hfe. 

As  the  combined  result  of  the  three  estimates  just  given,  we 
recognise  the  peculiar  competence  of  Sociology  to  deal  with 
each  several  part  of  the  life  which  it  idealises,  and  by  idealising 
disciplines.  So  the  domain  of  the  Positive  worship  is  seen  to 
be  all-comprehensive,  as  comprehensive  as  that  of  the  religion 
of  which  it  is  the  expression  and  developement ;  whereas  the 
dogma,  on  the  other  hand,  and  the  regime,  though  not  without 
a  general  influence,  are  more  limited  in  their  functions.  If  we 
complement  the  Positive  by  the  Fetichist  spirit,  the  various 
scenes  of  our  individual  or  our  social  life  admit  of  effusions  or 
consecrations  of  never-failing  value,  as  the  growth  of  feeling 
depends  more  on  inward  culture  than  on  its  external  results. 
But  as  a  systematic  institution,  public  and  private  worship  can 
only  take  account  of  the  more  important  phases  and  steps  of 
life.  The  secondary  incidents,  the  occasional  events,  for  these 
we  cannot  provide ;  in  regard  to  them  the  priesthood  must 
leave  it  to  the  true  believers  themselves  to  apply  by  themselves 
the  rules  of  Sociolatry.  In  these  less  important  cases,  the  fun- 
damental formula  of  Positivism  is  a  sufiScient  guide,  and  the 
act  of  worship  might  often  be  limited  simply  to  the  proper 
enunciation  of  that  formula.  But  as  an  improvement  on  this 
mode  of  expression,  signs  susceptible  of  universal  adoption  may 
be  introduced,  and  these  I  have  now  to  point   out,  proving 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  89' 

thereby  that,  even  in  such  a  secondary  detail,  the  Positive  is 
superior  to  the  theological  system  of  worship,  to  which  latter, 
however,  we  are  indebted  for  the  happy  thought  of  this  custom. 

The  Positivist  formula  is  by  its  nature  an  adequate  exprfes-  Sacrea  sign, 
sion  at  all  times  of  the  constitution  of  man,  but  to  make  the 
full  use  of  this  its  power,  it  is  wise,  generally,  to  enunciate  it, 
and  whilst  doing  so,  to  touch  in  succession  the  principal  organs 
assigned  by  our  theory  of  the  brain  to  the  three  constituent 
elements  of  the  formula.  Those  of  love  and  order  are  com- 
pletely contiguous,  love  finding  its  best  representative  in 
benevolence  strictly  so  called,  order  depending  in  the  main  on 
deductive  meditation.  The  organ  of  progress,  in  closest  connec- 
tion with  firmness,  comes  after  them  on  the  median  line,  biit 
with  the  organ  of  veneration  between  it  and  them,  a  position 
involving  no  confusion  in  our  religious  feelings,  so  intimate  is 
the  relation  of  these  several  attributes.  Hence  we  draw  the 
Positivist  symbol,  more  rational  at  once  and  more  efficacious 
than  those  of  the  various  Monotheisms,  as  being  a  better  substi- 
tute for  the  recitation  of  the  formula  which  it  condenses.  Even 
this  symbol  admits  of  reduction  to  the  mere  enunciation  of  the 
three  numbers  (10,  14,  18)  which  mark  the  rank  of  the  organs 
in  question,  for  in  the  cerebral  hierarchy  function  is  indicated 
by  position.  Lastly,  the  Positivist  formula  admits  of  another 
and  numerical  symbolic  statement,  one  resting  on  the  proper- 
ties of  the  three  sacred  numbers,  whether  ordinal  or  cardinal. 
In  fact  we  learn  from  the  last  volume  (III.  p.  129),  that  the 
first,  as  the  symbol  of  synthesis,  represents  also  sympathy ;  that 
the  second  stands  for  order,  in  the  distinct  sense  of  arrangement, 
which  is  invariably  binary ;  whilst  the  third,  inseparable  from 
the  idea  of  evolution,  naturally  expresses  progress. 

Though  what  has  been  said  is  sufficient  as  determining  the  Generar 
scope  and  object  of  the  worship  of  Humanity,  I  must  not  pass  thesubjeo- 
to  the  exposition  of  Sociolatry,  without  first  stating  generally 
the  theory  of  the  subjective  life,  as  it  is  to  it  that  the  Positive 
adoration  most  especially  looks. 

The  first  point  is  to  get  a  clear  conception  of  this  life  by  ^(''JJP^i'j^™ 
comparing  it  with  the  objective,  its  basis.      The  fusion  of  the  y^^"^^'^"' 
two  can  only  apply  to  results,  never  to  faculties,  so  that  the 
most  objective  of  the  three  constituent  elements  of  our  indi- 
vidual being  cannot  share  in  the  subjective    prolongation   of 
existence,  whereas  the  other  two  can,  and  that  in  the  fullest 


90      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAK. 

sense.  For  action,  properly  so  called,  has  as  its  great  object 
the  modification  of  the  world  without,  and  therefore  can  in  no 
sense  form  a  part  of  our  being  when  it  has  ceased  to  be  in 
direct  contact  with  that  world.  Intellect  and  emotion,  on  the 
other  hand,  concern  exclusively  the  world  within ;  their  results 
therefore  may  pass  into  another  brain,  so  as  to  be  fused  with 
the  results  attained  by  that  other  brain  itself,  supposing  the 
two  beings  to  be  in  sufficient  harmony.  The  fruits  however  of 
this  internal  combination,  its  intellectual  or  moral  influences, 
be  they  what  they  may,  can  appear  only  in  the  person  who  is 
the  seat  of  this  fresh  combination ;  so  that,  in  eliminating  action 
from  our  subjective  life,  we  include  under  the  term  that  form  of 
action  which  supplies  the  means  of  expression.  StiU  the  value 
of  the  incorporation  as  an  influence  on  the  brain  is  not  limited 
to  its  more  immediate  domain,  the  provinces  of  feeling  and 
thought ;  indirectly  and  by  its  connection  with  the  two  others, 
it  should  also  affect  the  active  faculties.  Such  a  combination 
must  always  be  binary,  but  it  may  be  repeated ;  there  may,  that 
is,  be  a  succession  of  combinations  with  many  different  beings, 
all  in  their  subjective  life  contributing  to  guide  the  objective 
life  of  their  common  organ  or  representative. 
Assimilation         It  is  in  this  wav  that  the  souls  of  many  come  to  take  up 

of  other  ,     .         ,      ,  ,        .         ,  ,  ... 

existeacea.  their  abode  in  one  brain,  by  a  natural  process,  supposing  its 
power  of  sympathy  adequately  supported  by  the  spirit  of  synthe- 
sis. And  the  convergence  of  the  many  may  at  one  and  the  same 
time  inspire  with  life  not  one  brain  only,  but  all  which  satis- 
factorily fulfil  these  two  conditions  of  subjective  assimilation. 
Nor  does  the  fusion  interfere  with  our  distinguishing  the  indi- 
vidual contributions,  by  the  aid  of  their  peculiar  influence, 
though  the  difficulties  attaching  to  the  process  must  at  times 
leave  the  conclusion  doubtful. 

Such  are  the  two  phenomena — identification  of  many  with 
one,  and  conservation  of  the  many  in  the  one — which  consti- 
tute the  highest  privilege  of  Humanity.  The  individual  brain 
assimilates  the  feelings  and  conceptions  of  all  its  peers,  in  a 
truer  sense  than  the  body  assimilates  the  different  materials  of 
its  food.  On  the  other  hand,  he  who  has  left  great  results 
acquires  in  others  a  subjective  immortality,  so  that  the  work  of 
his  life  is  perpetuated  and  even  extended. 
rrbe  will  of  The  suppression  of  action,  and  limitation  of  the  combination 

ta«)?po"rated  to  foelings  and  thoughts,  involves  as  a  consequence  the  suppres- 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  91 

sion  of  the  •will  in  the  beings  incorporated,  and  confines  it  ^unf™'^ 
exclusively  to  the  being  which  incorporates — which  offers  them  eaishea. 
an  abode  for  their  indirect  existence.  For  direct  action  with  a 
special  purpose  demands  unity  of  decision,  to  whatever  extent 
we  multiply,  and  it  is  often  to  an  extent  which  defies  analysis, 
the  motives  of  each  design.  During  his  life,  in  the  ordinary 
sense,  each  servant  of  Humanity  is  the  instrument  of  the  pro- 
vidence of  Humanity,  without  detriment  to  his  individuality, 
of  which  will  is  the  invariable  condensation. 

If  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  beings  incorporated,  this  ^^^'^^. 
subjective  identification  with  another  requires  the  removal  of  simiiated. 
every  element  of  divergence,  the  conservation  of  assimilable 
qualities  exclusively.  Thus  the  process  in  all  cases  subjects,  as  its 
natural  result,  the  being  incorporated  to  idealisation  ;  an  ideali- 
sation which,  almost  incompatible  with  the  objective  state, 
owing  to  its  attendant  imperfections,  is  ordinarily  not  attain- 
able in  a  sufficient  degree  till  after  death.  Poetry  anticipated 
philosophy  in  pointing  out  this  condition :  witness  the  beautiful 
fiction  which  represents  it  as  the  condition  of  regeneration  that 
we  drink  first  of  the  river  of  oblivion,  then  of  the  river  which 
restores  only  the  memory  of  good.  As  a  consequence  of  this 
purification,  the  union  in  the  subjective  state  gains  in  intimacy 
and  continuity.  Supposing  the  incorporated  soul  to  exert  an 
adequate  influence  for  good  on  the  brain  in  which  it  lives  again, 
it  shares  in  the  immortality  that  brain  obtains.  Thus,  by  a 
series  of  resurrections,  subjective  immortality,  though  never 
immortality  in  an  absolute  sense,  has  yet  no  other  limit  than 
the  limit  assigned  to  the  existence  of  the  Great  Being  by  the 
laws  of  the  order  of  which  it  is  the  condensed  expression.  The 
increase  of  number,  be  it  of  the  minds  united  in  one  brain,  or 
be  it  of  the  brains  in  which  they  are  united,  is  no  obstacle  to 
the  immortality  being  shared  and  extended  without  impair- 
ment of  its  value,  as  it  presupposes  the  abnegation  of  self  and 
the  implicit  devotion  of  ourselves  to  the  service  of  Humanity. 

The  series  of  indications  here  given,  as  to  the  nature  and  ^^™^^«- 
destination  of  the  subiective  existence,  would  be   incomplete  subjective 

J  ^  J-  existence. 

without  a  notice  of  its  three  modes  or  degrees.  The  first 
relates  to  the  minds  personally  known  to  him  who  continues 
their  existence  in  his  brain.  In  the  second  the  union  is  simply 
one  of  results,  without  any  personal  contact  with  the  authors 
of  those  results.     The  third  calls  into  existence — subjective 


92       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  PUTUKE  OP  MAS. 


XaTvs  of  the 

subjective 

Ufe. 


It  is  exempt 
from  pliysi- 
cal,  depen- 
dent on  in- 
tellectual 
and  moral, 
laws. 


:No  disturb- 
ance of  the 
aiTange- 
xnent. 


existence — beings  -who  are  yet  unborn.  Such  is  the  normal 
ascending  scale  of  subjectivity  demanded  by  our  co-existent 
relations  with  the  present,  the  past,  and  the  future,  when 
Humanity,  as  a  conception  and  as  a  feeling,  attains  the  propor- 
tions which  shall  meet  the  requirements  of  her  reasonable 
fcervice.  Although  the  subjective  or  indirect  mode  of  exist- 
ence be  also  less  vivid  and  less  definite  than  the  direct,  yet  it  is 
consistent  with  reality  in  such  a  degree  as  to  be  exempt  from 
any  admixture  of  caprice,  and  so  is  qualified  to  produce  the 
intellectual  and  moral  effects  which  are  in  accordance  with  its 
object  as  an  institution. 

Guided  by  this  series  of  indications,  I  have  to  conclude  the 
explanation  of  the  subjective  life  by  determining  its  peculiar 
laws. 

These  laws  are  a  direct  result  of  the  relation  of  dependence 
in  which  the  subjective  necessarily  stands  towards  the  objective 
existence.  As  this  latter  is  in  subjection  to  the  whole  order  of 
things,  the  former  is  indirectly  under  the  control  of  that  order. 
But,  for  a  correct  estimate  of  its  dominion  over  the  subjective 
life,  we  must  distinguish  between  the  laws  of  man's  world  and 
those  of  the  outer  world.  The  indirect  or  subjective  existence 
is  free  from  all  control  of  physical  laws — the  laws  of  life  no  less 
than  those  of  matter — whilst  it  remains  in  complete  subjection 
to  the  intellectual  and  moral  order,  which  consequently  stands 
out  in  stronger  relief  therein.  Its  emancipation  from  the  laws 
of  the  outer  world  applies  even  to  Mathema.tics,  the  most  general 
rules  of  which,  even  the  laws  of  space  and  time,  would  be 
often  found  irreconcilable  with  the  subjective  state.  The  full 
extent  of  this  independence  is  reached  when  the  representatives 
of  all  countries  and  of  all  ages  take  up  their  abode  simul- 
taneously in  one  and  the  same  brain.  Most  universal  of  all 
are  the  laws  of  number,  and  yet  from  them  too  the  subjective 
existence  is  free,  for  one  and  the  same  mind  may  be  assimilated 
by  several  brains  at  once,  and  each  of  them  may  reproduce  it 
in  different  forms. 

Still,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  changes,  order,  properly  so 
called,  that  is  to  say,  the  arrangement,  always  remains  undis- 
turbed. We  never  place  before,  that  which  comes  after,  or  the 
converse,  neither  in  space  nor  even  in  time.  All  subjective 
changes,  with  no  exception  for  cases  of  disease,  are  then,  as  are 
all  objective  changes,  a  merfe  question  of  degree,  in  obedience 


Chap.  II.]  THK  "WOKSHIP.  93 

to  the  general  law  in  regard  to  modifications,  a  law  indis- 
pensable to  the  completeness  of  the  dogmatic  system  of 
Positivism. 

In  order  to  realise  more  fully  the  intrinsic  independence  of  imiepona- 

,,..,.,  p  ,.  ■"■  ence  01:  Tital 

the  subjective  state,  as  far  as  physical  laws  are  concerned,  let  us  influences. 
consider  it  in  reference  specially  to  the  laws  of  life,  which,  as 
heing  nearer  to  Humanity  than  those  of  matter,  might  be 
expected  to  have  a  more  durable  existence.  Although  the 
being  incorporated  is  freed  from  the  influences  of  its  own  proper 
body  by  its  residence  in  another  brain,  it  appears  subjected  to 
the  bodily  influences  to  which  that  brain  is  subject.  The 
apparent  contradiction  disappears  if  we  call  to  mind  that  the 
identification  and  conservation  we  are  speaking  of  have  nothing 
to  do  with  functions,  but  only  with  their  products  imparted  to 
others.  It  follows  that,  whatever  the  modifications,  even  of  a 
morbid  kind,  introduced  by  the  reaction  of  the  body  into  the 
operations  of  the  brain,  the  results  so  transmitted  are  not 
affected  by  them  any  more  than  are  the  results  of  external 
impressions.  "Without  independence  to  this  extent,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  understand  the  continuity  of  the  brain's  action,  the 
fundamental  phenomenon  of  our  existence,  which  no  pertm- 
bations  can  interrupt,  not  even  the  perturbation  of  delirium, 
as  a  temporary  or  permanent  state,  the  delirium  of  sleep  or  of 
madness. 

So  we  may  recognise  the  high  superiority  of  the  subjective  Superiority 
state,  which  is  the  realisation,  on  an  ampler  scale  and  with  jectivVstate. 
greater  purity,  of  the  dream  of  Theology — souls  without  bodies. 
In  it  the  dignity  of  the  human  order  passes  out  of  dispute, 
since  in  it  we  find  the  noblest  functions  persisting  in  complete 
independence  of  the  laws  of  the  outer  world,  he  only  in  whom 
they  gain  a  new  life  being  under  their  swaj.  Homer,  Aristotle, 
Dante,  Descartes,  &c.,  will  thus  live  again  for  all  time  wherever 
there  is  a  brain  capable  of  incorporating  them,  and  the  results 
they  then  produce  will  not  unfrequently  be  superior  to  those 
they  produced  when  alive. 

Such  is  the  fundamental  mode  in  which  the  dead  more  and  The  fusion 
more  control  the  living  by  importing  the  fixity,  which  is  the  withthe* 
note  of  their  existence,  as  a  check  upon  the  mutability  inse-  a™ati.ve"^^ 
parable  from  actual  life.     As  order  and  progress  alike  demand  lectuai! 
the  combination,  which  is  ever  on  the  increase  in  point  of 
completeness,  it  is  important  to  see  that  it  depends  mainly 


94     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

upon  feeling,  even  when  apparently  limited  to  the  intelligence. 
For  our   instincts   of  sympathy  contribute  more    towards  its 
production  than  our  powers    of  synthesis,  as    is  seen  in  the 
education  of  the  individual,  where  trust  is  sufficient  for  the 
imparting  most  of  the  more  important  acquisitions,  language 
being  the  only  mental  faculty  called  into  exercise.     When  so 
imparted,  they  demand,  unquestionably,  if  they  are  to  bear 
,     fruit,  intellectual  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  brain  which  receives 
the  communication.     But  so  entirely  is  the  effect  of  the  trans- 
mitted ideas  independent  of  the  source  from  which  they  come, 
that   those   of  which  we  know  not    the    proof  often  inspire 
greater  confidence  than  the  belief  resulting  from  demonstration. 
On  this  point  we  may  be  content  with  appealing  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  double  movement  of  the  earth,   as    showing  that  the 
principal  influences  of  an  opinion  are  not  seen  in  its  originators, 
nor  even  in  the  brains  which   admitted  it    from   conviction 
without  persuasion.     Although  the  explanation  is  necessary  in 
regard  to  the  intellect,  it  would  be  superfluous  in  reference  to 
feeling,  and  it  is  this  which  naturally  holds  the  first  place  in 
the  combination  due  to   affection,  where  the  fusion  is  often 
carried  to  the  point  of  leading  men,  nay  even  societies  of  men, 
to  exertion,  from  their  devotion  to  the  type  they  have  assimi- 
lated. 

The  preceding  explanation  is,  in  and  by  itself,  a  verification 
of  the  superiority  of  the  worship  in  point  of  synthesis ;  as  in  the 
worship  the  fundamental  dogma  of  the  religion  is  always  taken 
in  its  unity,  and  consequently  the  most  thorough  and  best 
directed  study  of  it  is  naturally  encouraged  by  its  systematic 
adoration. 
How  far  i3  One  last  explanation,  or  the  theory  might  render  us  liable 

tive  life  in-  to  the  error  of  exaggerating  the  independence  of  the  subjective 
physical"  life  as  regards  physical  laws.  The  soul,  when  absorbed  by 
another,  shakes  off  its  dependence  on  the  external  order,  hut 
that  order  still  affects  the  image  of  the  being  to  which  the  soul 
belonged.  And  though  the  evocation  of  that  image  is  never 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  securing  the  intellectual  and  even 
moral  benefits  of  the  combination,  such  evocation  heightens  the 
beneficial  action  of  the  fusion  on  the  brain,  which  is,  without 
it,  limited  to  the  use  of  signs.  Adoration  should  be  as  concrete 
as  possible,  in  order  that  it  may  be  in  the  truest  sense 
synthetical.     Therefore  it  is  of  importance  to  introduce  images 


laws. 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  95 

into  it,  and  in  introducing  them  we  respect  all  the  physical 
conditions  which  are  calculated  to  give  them  distinctness  and 
vividness.  We  may  forgive  poetry,  especially  ancient  poetry, 
for  asserting  its  independence  by  disregarding  without  any 
necessity  the  laws  of  matter  and  even  of  life.  There  may  be 
occasions  in  which,  in  the  normal  state,  we  may  properly  claim 
the  same  power ;  but  it  inculcates,  in  regard  to  the  external 
order,  a  degree  of  respect  in  our  conception  of  it  which  was  not 
required  during  the  initiation  of  the  race,  when  the  economy  of 
nature  was  essentially  unknown. 

'  This  supplementary  explanation  leads  to  a  statement  of  the  The  ideaii- 
idealisation  in  which  the  subj  ective  state  is,  as  it  were,  condensed.  q™ea. 
The  process  consists  especially  in  eliminating  defects,  not 
in  adding  excellences.  Our  artificial  order  becomes  thus,  in 
obedience  to  the  Positive  rule,  simply  a  judicious  prolongation 
of  the  natural  order.  Our  instinct  leads  tis,  in  idealising  any 
eminent  exemplar  Avhom  we  assimilate,  to  free  him  from  the 
external  laws  to  which  he  was  subject  whilst  alive.  If  we 
would  perfect  the  type,  then,  we  must  clear  away  the  several 
imperfections,  moral,  intellectual,  or  even  bodily,  which  obscure 
his  leading  characteristics,  respecting,  however,  all  the  con- 
ditions of  his  real  subjective  existence.  Nevertheless  such 
idealisation  by  subtraction  is  not  inconsistent  witli  a  rare 
admission  of  addition ;  we  may  add  some  attributes,  especially 
external  attributes,  provided  that  in  all  cases  they  be  secondary 
and  probable.  The  judicious  combination  of  the  two  modes 
allows  the  introduction  of  transfers,  which  enable  the  heart  and 
intellect  to  attain  a  better  conception  of  the  being  we  assimilate, 
by  supposing  events  to  have  happened  which  never  did  happen, 
although  it  was  quite  reasonable  that  they  should  have  hap- 
pened. 

On  the  basis  of  this  construction  of  the  theory  of  the  subjective  Direct  expo- 
life,  I  have  now  to  enter  on  the  direct  exposition  which  forms  the  worsiup. 
main  object  of  this  chapter.     But  at  this  point,  where  I  enter  on  ciotiwe  de 
the  full  exposition  of  the  Positive  Cultus,  I  feel  a  special  want, 
which  prompts  me  to  glorify  the  angelic  being  whose  inspiration 
presided  over  the  various  steps  of  its  creation.      Nine  years  of 
uninterrupted  adoration — of  an  adoration  which  became  purely 
subjective  after  one  year  of  chaste  initiation — have  brought 
with  them  in  their  natural  course  the  conceptions  which  I  am 
now  to  reduce  to  system,  in  such  a  way  as  to  furnish  at  once  an 


Vaux. 


96      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

evidence  of  the  value,  the  intellectual  and  moral  value,  of  a 
noble  identification, 
of'the^wo""'  '^^®  worship  must  be  subdivided  first  into  public  and 
Si'do-  private — public  if  paid  directly  to  the  Great  Being;  private  if 
mestio,  Pub-  paid  to  our  highest  personification  of  that  Being  ;  the  mode  in 
which  we  perform  this  pious  duty,  whether  as  individuals  or  as 
societies,  not  affecting  the  division.  Secondly,  private  worship 
naturally  subdivides  into  personal  and  domestic,  the  divisions 
of  private  life.  The  result  is  a  sociolatrical  series  or  progres- 
sion, in  which  each  individual  soul  successively  connects  itself 
with  the  Family,  the  Country,  and  Humanity,  with  a  view  to  a 
regular  cultivation  of  those  dispositions  from  which  we  derive 
a  stronger  love  for,  and  comprehension  of,  the  Great  Being, 
both  with  the  object  of  better  service.  Nothing  but  such  an 
initiation  can  give  a  charm  and  even  a  sanctity  to  all  the  acts 
of  man,  tracing,  as  it  does  everywhere,  the  supreme  existence, 
when  once  the  Positive  spirit  has  attained  its  due  completeness 
by  its  fusion  with  that  of  Fetichism.  But  this  extension  of  the 
sphere  of  religion — its  spontaneous  extension  so  as  to  embrace 
all  the  actions  of  life,  our  daily  avocations  not  less  than  more 
occasional  events,  and  that  in  a  degree  never  attained  by  any 
of  the  provisional  forms  of  worship — does  not  take  shape  in  any 
particular  institutions,  except  for  such  events  as  are  to  a  certain 
extent  in  connection  with  the  regular  epochs  of  our  human 

life. 
Personni  The  immediate  basis  of  Sociolatry,   personal    worship,  is 

■  Adorat?o'ii  <>:  characterised  above  all  by  the  heartfelt  adoration  of  the  afiective 
.voman.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  grouud  of  the  inherent  capacity  of  every  true  woman 
to  be  a  representative  of  Humanity.  As  composite,  the  highest 
form  of  existence  can  hardly  be  appreciated  unless  personified. 
All  its  true  servants  are,  in  their  several  degrees,  each  by  virtue 
of  his  leading  attribute,  capable  of  representing  it.  But  as 
sympathy  is  the  great  source  of  unity,  and  sympathy  is  strongest 
in  woman,  woman  must  be  the  best  personification  of  a  being,  the 
foundation  of  whose  existence,  as  a  whole,  is  love.  Woman,  the 
spontaneous  embodiment  of  the  Family  idea,  alone  can  worthily 
represent  any  collective  existence  ;  the  instinct  of  the  race 
made  her  the  emblem  of  the  Country  before  as  yet  she  had 
gained  the  estimation  which  should  qualify  her  for  the  repre- 
sentative of  Humanity. 
Mother.         Here,   then,   we  have  the  private  source  at  which  each 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  97 

servant  of  the  Great  Being  must  habitually  renew  his  vigour, 
the  better  to  fit  himself  for  his  social  function.  The  cares  of 
daily  life,  be  it  one  of  study  or  of  action,  necessitate  frequent 
recurrence  to  the  ideal  life  arising  out  of  the  worship  of 
Humanity  in  this  concrete  form,  under  pain  of  sacrificing  the 
soundest  foundation  of  duty  and  of  happiness.  This  want,  by 
its  nature,  requires  for  its  due  satisfaction  a  type  chosen  from 
the  family ;  allowing  for  exceptional  cases  in  which,  from  the 
family  not  supplying  such  type,  we  are  obliged  to  seek  else- 
where a  fit  representative  of  the  Great  Being.  Now,  in  the 
normal  order,  we  have  not  this  difficulty  in  choice,  as  it  offers 
each  one  a  centre  for  all  his  affections  in  her  who  is  necessarily, 
for  each  of  us,  the  first  embodiment  of  Humanity.  In  defiance 
of,,  the  efforts  of  Theologism,  particularly  in  its  monotheistic 
stage,  to  turn  from  its  natural  course  the  initiation  of  mankind, 
the  Fetichist  spirit,  which  characterises  childhood,  always 
directed  the  earliest  worship  towards  the  Mother.  Positivism 
sanctions  and  developes  this  instinctive  tendency,  and  looks  to 
it  for  the  primary  basis  on  which  it  rears  the  systematic 
worship  of  Humanity.  Thus  it  is  in  the  order  of  nature  that 
the  mother,  as  a  rule,  should  take  the  place  of  our  highest 
patroness  by  the  continuation  of  her  two  offices  of  protectress 
and  example — a  combination  which  in  French  is  happily 
indicated  in  the  equivocal  term  patronne. 

The  mother,  however,  the  paramount  image  of  Humanity,  The  wife 
is  not,  if  she  stand  alone,  sufficient  as  the  habitual  represen-  ter. 
tative  of  the  Great  Being.  For  she  appeals  directly  only  to 
veneration,  and  she  expresses  only  our  relations  with  the  past. 
To  represent  the  future  and  the  present,  the  mother,  as  the 
primary  object  of  our  worship,  must  have  two  adjuncts,  both 
equally  taken  from  the  family — the  wife  and  the  daughter  ;  the 
wife  with  the  special  object  of  cultivating  attachment;  the 
daughter  for  the  culture  of  benevolence.  Personal  worship  thus 
embodies  and  consecrates  the  three  instincts  which  constitute 
altruism  ;  the  economy  of  the  family ;  and  the  whole  range  of 
social  relations — our  relations  to  superiors,  equals,  and  inferiors. 
To  secure,  however,  the  desired  consistency  and  definiteness  for 
this  triple  representation  of  the  Great  Being,  the  mother's 
image  must  always  be  the  predominant  one.  The  supremacy 
thus  necessarily  assigned  her  shows  that  in  the  subjective 
union,  even  in  its  simplest  and  most  perfect  form,  there  exists, 

VOL.  IV.  H 


The 


98     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

equally  as  in  other  unions,  the  need,  common  to  association  in 
all  its  forms,  of  a  hierarchical  arrangement.  So  compleniented, 
the  patronage  of  the  mother  is  equally  appropriate  for  either 
sex,  on  the  condition  that  each  borrow  from  the  other  the  two 
supplementary  types;  the  object  being  a  more  perfect  culti- 
vation of  tenderness  in  men,  of  energy  in  women,  to  remedy 
the  peculiar  deficiencies  of  each  sex. 
The  normal  The  process  of  the  above  construction  leads  me  to  explain 

these  three  what  is  normally  the  state  of  each  of  the  three  types  at  the 
period  when  the  worship  has  attained  its  complete  proportions ; 
this,  as  follows  from  the  preceding  remarks,  will  usually  not 
be  tiU  the  age  of  full  maturity  (set.  42).  By  that  time  the 
mother  is  generally  removed  by  death  ;  the  daughter  is  alive, 
her  type  therefore  is  objective ;  the  wife  may  be  equally  either 
one  or  the  other.  Now,  far  from  weakening  the  effect  of  private 
worship  upon  the  brain,  this  natural  mixture  of  relations 
strengthens  it ;  the  subjective  element  purifying,  the  objective 
vivifying  it. 
ScJ'tiona?'^  In  exceptional  cases,  in  the  first  place,  the  family  offers,  by 
its  very  composition,  the  means  of  compensating  the  particular 
failure  of  one  or  other  of  the  three  general  types.  For  the 
personal  worship,  as  normally  constituted,  leaves  out  the  sister ; 
the  want  of  definiteness  and  fixity  in  her  position  in  general 
not  qualifying  her  to  take  the  place  of  any  of  the  three  more 
natural  patrons.  But  this  very  ambiguity  usually  allows  the 
sister,  the  least  distinct  of  the  feminine  types,  to  be,  as  the  case 
may  require,  associated  with  each  of  the  three  others  in  order 
to  strengthen  their  influence  without  dividing  the  affection. 
It  follows  that  she  maiy,  in  exceptional  cases  of  deficiency  in  the 
mother,  the  wife,  or  the  daughter,  make  good  that  deficiency, 
as  equally  qualified  to  take  the  place  of  either.  Even  with 
this  substitution,  however,  we  could  not  meet  all  the  anomalies 
that  will  occur,  even  after  the  complete  cessation  of  anarchy 
in  the  West.  There  will  be  extreme  cases  in  which  we  shall 
be  driven  inevitably  to  seek  outside  the  family  for  all  the  types 
essential  to  our  personal  worship,  if  we  have  a  soul  equal  to  the 
right  construction  of  a  subjective  family.  A  type  of  each  may 
be  found  among  the  protectors,  companions,  or  dependents, 
whether  spiritual  or  temporal,  who  habitually  group  themselves 
around  each  of  the  three  normal  patrons,  and  by  whom  those 
patrons  are  linked,  through  a  series  of  steps,  to  the  whole  social 
economy. 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOKSHIP.  99 

In  this  system  of  personal  adoration  neither  the  past  nor  Deficiency  as 

,  to  the  Past. 

even  the  future,  but  especially  the  past,  are  as  fully  represented  Names. 
as  is  compatible  with  the  nature  of  the  worship,  and  as  is  re- 
quired by  its  object.  As  a  first  contribution  to  its  subjective 
completion,  we  systematically  adopt,  and  carry  to  a  further 
perfection,  the  plan  judiciously  introduced  by  Catholicism  as 
to  baptismal  names,  which  it  wisely  turned  to  useful  purpose  by 
consecrating  them  to  the  special  honour  of  the  highest  types  it 
could.  The  patronage  thus  initiated  by  the  priesthood  of  the 
Middle  Ages  is  yet,  in  its  full  power,  adapted  exclusively  to 
Sociolatry,  for  Sociolatry  alone  allows  its  extension  to  all  our 
progenitors.  In  the  sex  which  has  to  act  and  think,  each  true 
believer  is  thus  provided  from  the  hour  of  his  birth  with  two 
eminent  types ;  one  chosen  from  the  theoretical,  the  other  from 
the  practical  order ;  these  he  coordinates  and  completes  by 
himself,  choosing  a  third  at  the  time  when  his  vocation  becomes 
sufficiently  clear.  For  the  sex  in  which  feeling  is  predomi- 
nant, its  holy  uniformity  of  vocation  allows  us  to  confine 
ourselves  always  to  the  patroness  chosen  by  the  mother  under 
the  sanction  of  the  priesthood. 

In  reference  to  the  future,  it  is  less  necessary  to  extend  the  Eeflcicncy  as 
range  of  our  personal  worship  ;  and  after  the  first  generation  it  ture. 
would  seem  inevitably  to  merge  in  the  public  worship,  which 
alone  appears  to  be  competent  to  embrace  all  our  successors. 
Yet  it  would  leave  a  serious  void  in  the  system  of  Sociolatry,  if 
its  most  individual  form  were  without  any  appropriate  con- 
nection with  the  second  or  future  element  of  the  subjective 
portion  of  Humanity.  To  supply  this  is  the  last  step  and  must 
be  the  natural  consequence  of  giving  its  full  efficacy  to  the 
patronage  of  the  past,  the  fundamental  element  of  the  conception. 

Grranting  that  we  are  so  raised  by  our  personal  worship  as  ourimmor- 
to  be  worthy  servants  of  the  Great  Being,  the  immortality  we  tSto'tiie 
shall  deserve  will  extend  to  the  great  saints  by  whose  aid  we  through 
have  deserved  it.     They  will  be  consequently  incorporated  in  ^^"bem'^ '' 
the  noblest  constituent  of  the  future  generations,  and  will  re-  '^^^"''='^- 
ceive  the  daily  homage  of  their  best  members.     Now,  such  a 
prospect  allows  us,  even  now,  a  personal  sympathy  with  all  our 
successors,  on  whom  it  thus  devolves  to  continue  our  own  most 
inward  worship.     The  greater  our  sense  of  its  beneficial  power 
over  us,  the  more  we  must  desire  that  it  survive  us,  the  more 
affection  we  must  feel  for  those  who  shall  prolong  its  existence. 

JI  2 


100    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF    MAK. 


This  uni- 
versally ap- 
plicable. 


Theimmort 
alifcy  of 
women. 


Our  patronsi 
guardian 
angels,  or 
household 
goi39. 


The  legitimate  hope  of  such  prolongation  must  be  our  special 
encouragement  to  the  service  of  posterity,  as  it  is  from  posterity 
that  we  expect  a  reward,  the  purer  as  it  is  not  paid  to  ourselves 
immediately,  but  to  the  beings  through  whom  we  deserve  it. 

At  the  present  day,  such  a  reward  would  be  judged  the 
exclusive  appanage  of  exceptional  merit,  no  religion  but  the 
Positive  being  able,  by  systematic  appeal  to  social,  gratitude,  to 
extend  its  due  influence.  But  when  the  habits  sprung  from  a 
selfish  worship  shall  have  been  overcome  by  the  habits  and 
feelings  formed  by  Sociolatry,  all  true  servants  of  Humanity 
will  be  warranted  in  aspiring  to  this  legitimate  return,  by  which 
the  grateful  recognition  of  their  services  goes  back  to  the  main 
source  of  their  own  glory.  The  humblest  citizen  will  be  con- 
scious that  he  can  give  his  patrons  a  degree  of  immortality 
corresponding  to  his  own  merits,  a  degree  summarily  expressed 
at  times  by  the  fusion  of  names. 

As  the  last  aid  to  our  full  appreciation  of  this  indispensable 
addition  to  the  personal  worship,  we  must  not  forget  that 
woman  is  an  essential  constituent  of  the  fundamental  patronage. 
More  keenly  alive  to  the  charm  of  self-sacrifice,  woman  feels 
less  than  man  the  want  of  subjective  immortality.  It  would 
even  seem  that  it  is  essentially  denied  her,  in  consequence  of 
her  exclusion  normally  from  public  life,  the  principal  source 
of  all  immediate  claims  to  honour.  But  even  granting  women 
to  be  wholly  insensible  individually  to  the  attraction  of  a  noble 
eternity,  their  instinct  of  sympathy  should  make  them  wish 
their  moral  providence  carried  on  and  not  confined  to  those 
who  are  its  direct  objects.  Each  woman,  then,  will  look  beyond 
the  immediate  return  for  her  holy  services,  and  cherish  the 
additional  hope  of  an  indefinite  extension  of  those  services.  . 
This  is  the  normal  form  of  woman's  indirect  participation  in 
the  immortality  due  to  the  services,  whether  of  the  theorician 
or  practician,  in  which  she  cannot  take  a  direct  part.  It  is  to 
the  affective  sex  that  the  Grreat  Being  entrusts  its  most  im- 
portant and  most  difficult  function,  the  function  of  forming  all 
its  servants.  Each  woman  will  ultimately  be  judged  by  her 
work  ;  she  will  share  the  immortality  accorded  it  by  the  future 
generations,  who  will  know  how  to  distinguish  the  merit  of  the 
training  amidst  the  imperfections  of  the  result. 

Such  is  the  normal  basis  in  Sociolatry  of  private  worship, 
the  adoration,  viz.,  of  our  own  personal  patrons,  our  guardian 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  101 

angels  or  household  gods ;  either  term  may  be  used,  according 
as  we  compare  them  with  one  or  other  of  their  prototypes. 
Although  the  more  modern  term  is  destined  to  prevail  at  the 
present  day,  the  earlier  will  ultimately  he  most  generally 
adopted,  as  it  answers  better  the  nature  of  the  institution  as  a 
Positive  institution.  For  the  guardian  angels  of  Catholicism 
were  but  a  feeble  substitute  for  the  household  gods  of  Fetichism, 
and  by  Fetichism  handed  down  to  Polytheism ;  gods  who  stood 
in  a  more  direct  and  individual  relation  to  their  worshipper, 
gods  therefore  exercising  a  stronger  influence,  nay  one  which 
appealed  more  sensibly  to  the  feelings.  Admitting  this 
superiority,  we  must  remember,  that  the  transition  from  the 
objective  to  the  subjective  effected  by  Catholicism  was  an  un-  cathoiioaaa 
conscious  preparation  for  the  definitive  form  of  personal  worship,  dan  preoe- 
Still  more  capital,  however,  was  the  precedent  set  by  Islam 
when  it  introduced  the  idea  of  the  homogeneity,  in  suitable  degree, 
of  the  worshipper  and  the  worshipped.  Mohammed  left,  it  is 
true,  no  formal  command  on  this  point,  but  his  august  ex- 
ample, as  one  of  the  most  eminent  organs  of  Humanity,  will 
smooth  the  way  for  the  universal  adoption  of  the  Positive 
form.  All  the  types  he  chose  were  women;  he  chose  them 
within  the  family ;  and  he  chose  them,  some  from  the  living, 
others  from  the  dead  ;  all  this  conspires  to  place  him,  though 
a  noble  exception,  in  as  full  accordance  with  our  definitive 
systematisation  of  personal  worship,  as  the  similar  instances  in 
chivalry,  where  they  are  the  natural  result  of  that  system. 

I  have  now  to  complete  the  exposition  of  the  personal  ^j^^^^ 
worship  by  an  explanation  of  the  whole  system  of  daily  exer-  ^^ 
cises,  which  alone  can  make  it  really  efficacious.  Prayer  is  the 
proper  term  for  all  of  them  ;  restricting  this  word,  which  admits 
of  no  substitute,  to  the  noble  sense  which  it  came  more  and 
more  to  bear  for  worshippers  of  deep  feeling,  even  under  the 
selfish  influences  of  Theology.     So  restricted,  it  always  stands  Definition  o£ 

_  prayer. 

lor  a  commemoration  followed  by  effusion. 

In  private  worship  these  two  essential  constituents  of  Posi-  Divisions  ot 
tive  prayer  take,  almost  in  equal  degree,  a  concrete  character,  prly™".'™"^ 
as  directed  to  an  individual  object,  that  object  being  especially 
the  principal  patron,  the  better  to  concentrate  our  emotions. 
Although  the  phase  of  prayer  which  calls  for  exertion  on  our 
part,  has  a  more  immediately  decisive  influence  than  that  in 
which  we  are,  as  it  were,  passive,  this  latter  is  habitually  the 


102     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  OF  MAK. 


Degree  of 
snbjectiTity 
iu  prayer. 


Oral  prayer. 


Daily  Prayer 
a  ■work  of 
art. 


basis  of  the  former,  which  would  otherwise  be  inevitably  de- 
ficient in  depth.  Hence,  in  the  principal  daily  prayer,  the 
effusion  is  only  half  the  length  of  the  commemoration.  But 
then  we  divide  the  act  of  commemoration  into  two  equal  parts : 
the  first,  proper  to  the  day  of  the  week,  as  recalling  the  associa- 
tions of  that  day  ;  the  second,  common  to  all  the  days,  in  order 
to  bring  before  us  the  whole  of  our  social  relations  reviewed  ia 
their  true  order  of  succession.  Though  it  thus  embraces  a 
larger  field,  the  latter  part  need  not  be  longer  than  the  former, 
as  in  it  we  use  mainly  signs,  in  the  other  mainly  images. 
Thus,  two  stages  of  contemplation,  one  more  vivid,  the  second 
more  comprehensive,  precede  and  prepare  effusion ;  this,  invari- 
ably synthetical  in  character,  is  directed  to  the  general  object 
of  our  personal  worship.  Such  is  the  normal  distribution  of  pri- 
vate prayer  into  three  phases  of  equal  length,  which  together 
constitute  a  progressive  action  of  the  brain,  in  which  images, 
signs,  and  feelings  prevail  in  succession,  the  result  of  the  whole 
being  the  subjective  evocation,  which  shows  that  the  act  of 
adoration  has  attained  its  end. 

The  image  evoked, — the  triumph  of  private  prayer, — never 
can  equal,  in  clearness  or  in  vividness,  the  impressions  of  sense. 
But  as  this  ideal  limit  of  subjectivity  is  reached,  at  times 
passed,  under  the  excitement  of  disease,  so  in  health  we  may 
come  more  and  more  near  to  it,  in  proportion  as  by  our  assi- 
duous practice  of  daily  prayer  we  increase  its  power  over  our 
brain.  Nobler  natures  may  thus  procure  themselves  satisfactions 
unknown  to  those  who  leave  their  hearts  uncultivated,  nay 
even  to  those  who  address  their  homage  to  beings  of  a  different 
nature  from  themselves. 

To  give  additional  energy  to  our  daily  exercises,  it  is  a 
great  point  to  introduce  a  judicious  combination  of  the  most 
sympathetic  with  the  most  synthetic  of  our  senses,  calling  in 
sounds  to  help  forms.  Though  oral  prayer  seems  confined  to 
social  worship,  there  has  always  been  a  sense  that  the  practice 
tends  to  perfect  solitary  adoration,  often  spoken  of  as  invocation. 
In  any  case,  however,  it  suits  better  with  the  effusion  than  the 
commemoration,  the  first  phase  of  which,  in  particular,  should 
be  sparing  in  its  use  of  it. 

It  follows  from  the  indications  given,  when  taken  in  connec- 
tion, that  the  daily  prayer  of  Positivists  is  a  work  of  art ;  each 
worshipper  having  to  compose  his  own  prayer,  as  he  alone  can 


Chap.  U.]  THE  "WORSHIP.  103 

judge  what  combination  of  sounds  and  forms  will  give  the  true 
expression  of  his  feelings.     This  spontaneous  combination  of  the 
two  modes  of  artistic  utterance  gains  in  efficiency  if,  undeterred 
by  groundless  scruples,  we  bring  in  the  Fetichist  to  perfect  the 
Positive  spirit,  and  give  life  quite  naturally  to  all  such  objects 
as  are  really  connected  with  oiu-  worship.      It  is  indispensable, 
in  all  cases,  that  our  prayers  should  be  original  compositions, 
but  we  may  embellish  them  by  a  judicious   recourse  to  the 
poetical    accumulations   of    Humanity.      Provided    that   the 
general  forms  we  there  find  correspond  adequately  to  our  indivi- 
dual feelings,  their  use  in  moderation  should  give  increased  power 
to  our  emotions,  active  or  passive  equally,  thus  placed  under 
the  sanction  of  a  great  poet,  and  besides  in  sympathy,  by  the 
power  of  imagination,  with  all  whom  he  has  influenced.      The 
aid  from  this  source  will  receive  an  addition  from  the  com- 
pleteness esthetically  of  Positive  education,  which  will  qualify 
us,  in  subordination  to  poetry,  to  employ  its  two  most  close  allies, 
when  singing  and  drawing  shall  have  become  as  familiar  as 
speech  and  writing.      Their  great  use  in  the  worship  will  be  to 
■compensate  the  inevitable  uniformity  of  each  prayer  ;  for  once 
formed  it  should  in  substance  remain  the  same,  so  as  to  gain 
the  ease  of  expression  which  habit  gives ;  allowing  for  the  rare 
introduction  of  improvements  when  a  want  has  been  long  felt. 
The  only  variation  admissible  being  the  developement,  either  by 
song  or  drawing,  of  the  forms  consecrated    by  use,  the  two 
special  arts  will  give  this  greater  completeness  and  life,  if,  at 
the  time,  they  involve  no  effort. 

As  we  have  more  than  one  daily  prayer,  the  first  point  is  to  Number  ana 
xecognise  the  superior  importance  normally  attaching  to  the  aStV°"° 
morning  prayer,  devoting  as  it  does  the  first  hour  of  each  day  p^^^'^' 
to  place  the  whole  day  under  the  protection  of  the  best  repre- 
sentatives of  Humanity.     It  is  in  this  first  prayer  that  we  make 
the  largest  use  of  all  secondary  means  to  perfect  each  of  the 
three  phases  of  our  personal  worship.     At  the  approach  of  sleep, 
an  appropriate  prayer,  of  half  the  length,  protects  the  harmony 
of  the  brain  from  disturbance  during  the  night.     Lastly,  about 
noon,  for  the   shortest  of  our  daily  prayers,  we  interrupt  our 
studies,  or  our  business,  in  order  to  recall,  by  an  exertion  of 
feeling,  the  great  primary  object  of  our  life  which  our  work 
tends  to  put  put  of  sight.     Such  are  the  three  daily  prayers  of 
the  true  Positivist,  and  he  should  be  able  to  graduate  duly 


104     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


"Weekly  and 
annual  wor- 
ship. 


Uniform  in- 
troduction 
for  the  sake 
of  conti- 
nuity. 


Tision  sus- 
pended. 


commemoration  and  effusion,  as  he  should  be  able  to  avail 
himself  in  judicious  proportion  of  subsidiary  resources,  without 
there  being  any  necessity  for  detailed  explanation  on  such  easy 
points. 

But  these  daily  exercises,  which  should  have  as  their  central 
object  the  chief  patroness,  are  incomplete  without  a  weekly 
prayer,  where  the  mother's  presidency,  with  the  two  other 
essential  types  as  her  assessors,  allows  us  to  give  suitable  expres- 
sion to  the  respect  we  owe  as  individuals  to  all  whom  we 
associate  with  them.  The  numerical  properties  which  led  the 
instinct  of  the  race  to  institute  this  subjective  period,  the  week, 
will  introduce  it  into  private  worship,  though  in  itself  more 
adapted  to  the  public  services.  On  some  of  these  weekly 
services  each  one  will  lay  greater  stress  than  on  others,  and  so 
form  for  his  own  use  annual  festivals,  thus  completing  his  per- 
sonal worship  by  bringing  it  into  regular  relation  with  the 
year,  the  second  objective  element  in  the  division  of  time.  As 
a  rule,  it  were  waste  of  labour  to  institute  monthly  festivals,  as 
the  universal  adoption  of  the  Positivist  calendar,  to  be  explained 
later,  will  bring  the  dates  of  the  week  and  the  month,  the  two 
periods  of  man's  institution,  into  harmony.  In  the  private,  as 
in  the  public  worship,  there  are  in  the  normal  state  only  three 
degrees :  daily,  weekly,  and  yearly  prayers  in  the  private ; 
weekly,  monthly,  and  yearly  services  in  the  public  worship. 

To  ensure  continuity  in  Sociolatry,  in  our  chief  daily 
prayer  we  must  habitually  take  precautions  to  guard  against  the 
difference  arising  from  its  having  a  different  beginning  for  each 
day  of  the  week.  We  avoid  this  break  by  adopting  an  uniform 
introduction,  consisting  of  a  short  invocation,  in  which  the 
principal  part  is  assigned  to  one  of  the  subordinate  associations 
connected  with  the  previous  day.  Supposing  that  day  to  have 
left  practically  only  one  memory,  we  shall  soon  learn  to  draw 
the  others  from  the  subjective  impressions  to  which  the  habit 
of  worship  will  of  itself  give  rise ;  its  more  marked  influences 
becoming  events  to  us  personally. 

In  the  second  place,  the  power  we  have  of  suspending  sight 
at  will  enables  us  to  give  to  the  images  we  evoka  an  increase 
of  vividness  unattainable  by  the  impressions  of  hearing.  It  is 
wiser  however  not  to  close  our  eyes  in  order  to  secure  a  cleai'er 
internal  vision  by  the  exclusion  of  external  objects,  if  there 
happens  to  be   sufficient  obscurity  already.      For  the   effort 


Chap.  II.]  THE  -WOESHIP.  105 

required  for  such  isolation  diverts  a  portion  of  our  brain  power, 
whilst  that  required  for  the  contemplation  of  external  objects 
is  an  aid  in  the  internal  act  of  evocation,  as  it  places  us  in  a 
situation  more  nearly  resembling  that  in  which  we  received  the 
original  impression. 

Nor  must  we  omit — and  this  applies  to  all  forms  admissible  "^^^  ™°- 

■^  ^  templdtion 

in  personal  worship — a  precaution  suggested  by  its  concrete  oithe death 
nature,  and  as  a  consequence  of  the  fact  that  the  predominant  "^toi^s- 
image,  the  image  of  the  mother,  is  usually  subjective,  as  are 
also  most  of  the  others.  Eemoved  as  she  and  they  are  from 
life,  we  should  not  shrink  in  each  case  from  habitually  calling 
up  before  us  the  circumstances  of  their  death.  The  picture  of 
their  last  moments  should  duly  enter  into  our  worship  of  them, 
the  better  to  represent  the  natural  commencement  of  the  sub- 
jective immortality  which,  under  their  assistance,  we  hope  to 
deserve  as  they  have  deserved. 

With  these  subsidiary  remarks,  we  leave  as  complete  the  influence  of 
explanation  of  the  personal  worship,  the  main  source  of  what-  cuitus 
ever  value  attaches  to  the  two  other  constituents  of  Sociolatry. 
The  explanation  enables  us  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  general 
power  recognised  above  as  inherent  in  the  Positive  worship,  to 
promote  the  continuous  amelioration  of  all  the  three  parts  of 
our  nature. 

Considered  as  a  whole,  private  worship  familiarises  us  with  asawiioie> 
the  process  of  idealising  human  existence,  for  it  daily  brings 
before  us  our  normal  condition  :  the  intelligence  and  the  acti- 
vity voluntarily  submitting  to  the  control  of  feeling.  Not  paid 
directly  to  the  Great  Being,  it  yet  constantly  recalls  it,  for 
each  patron  whom  we  invoke  has  no  claim  to  our  homage  but 
such  as  is  grounded  on  his  qualification  to  be  a  representative 
of  Humanity. 

The  highest  value  of  this  worship  has  regard  to  our  moral  Moral  m- 

1  n        p         1        r  fluence. 

advance,  whether  as  concerns  the  growth  of  each  of  our  sympa- 
thetic instincts  in  particular,  or  the  general  result  of  the  three 
in  their  right  combination.  It  draws  its  inspiration  from 
attachment,  and  it  developes  benevolence,  as  we,  the  living, 
become  protectors  of  our  patrons  who  are  no  longer  so.  But 
above  all  it  cultivates  veneration  by  our  worship  of  them,  and 
veneration  is  the  most  important  of  the  three  social  instincts, 
and  the  most  difficult  to  stimulate,  from  the  absence  of  any 
direct  connection  with  the  personal  instincts ;  it  has  an  indi- 


106     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  CE  MAK. 


Intellectual 
influence. 


Influence  on 
action. 


rect  connection  with  the  two  instincts  of  personal  improvement, 
those  of  construction  and  destruction.  Thus  it  is  that  we  best 
realise  the  value  of  voluntary  submission,  which  we  find  to  be 
the  habitual  source  of  the  truest  satisfactions.  As  we  subor- 
dinate in  our  personal  worship  more  and  more  the  subjective  to 
the  objective,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  evocation  of  the  object 
of  our  love,  it  leads  us  to  see  that  progress,  as  dependent  on 
our  own  effort,  always  consists  in  the  developement  of  natural 
order. 

The  influence  of  the  worship  on  the  intellect  is  incontest- 
able as  regards  art,  each  separate  act  requiring  an  effort  of 
spontaneous  idealisation,  and  the  result  being  a  poetical  utter- 
ance aided  by  sound  and  form.  This  brings  before  us 
affection,  as  evidently  the  true  source  of  artistic  power,  by 
virtue  of  the  reciprocal  action,  developed  with  such  a  charm  in 
the  worship,  between  the  improvement  in  the  pictures  we  form 
and  the  expansion  of  our  feelings.  But  the  influence  of 
private  worship  as  regards  science,  though  less  evident  at  the 
present  day,  yet  admits  of  equivalent  results,  in  method 
especially,  but  also  in  doctrine.  It  makes  us  feel  deeply,  how 
necessary  is  the  aid  of  affection  in  the  operations  of  the 
intellect,  in  meditation  no  less  than  in  contemplation,  as  in 
both  equally  it  guides  us  in  the  combination  of  images  with 
signs.  At  the  same  time  it  brings  into  evidence  the  principal 
laws  of  feeling  and  thought,  which  it  also  shows  to  be  in  con- 
stant dependence  on  our  bodily  constitution,  a  frequent  source 
of  disturbance  to  us  in  prayer  as  it  is  also  the  som-ce  of  assist- 
ance ;  and,  as  it  is  the  one  or  the  other,  it  gives  us  a  means  of 
estimating  the  state  of  our  health.       » 

In  regard  to  action,  the  personal  worship  tends  to  direct  it 
to  the  most  important  phenomena  and  those  most  easily  modi- 
fied, without  in  any  way  concealing  their  unavoidable  depend- 
ence on  the  more  simple.  It  calls  into  exercise,  for  its  own 
ends,  our  three  practical  virtues,  and  besides  this  it  gives  a 
general  stimulus  to  their  growth,  as  a  consequence  of  the 
natural  influences  of  prayer.  The  wish  solemnly  expressed  that 
we  may  grow  in  courage,  prudence,  or  perseverance,  tends  of 
itself  to  make  us  do  so,  were  it  only  by  the  acknowledgment  of 
our  actual  deficiencies.  Solitary  prayer  does  not,  it  is  true, 
offer  as  powerful  a  stimulus  as  social  prayer,  but  it  is  better 
adapted  to  make  us  feel  the  importance  of  consecrating  all  our 


Chap.  II.]  THE  -WORSHIP.  107 

active  powers  to  the  service  of  altruism.  Its  tendency  is  to 
represent  true  morality  as  active  rather  than  passive,  disci- 
plining our  selfish  instincts  rather  through  the  cultivation  of 
our  instincts  of  sympathy  than  by  any  direct  compression. 

So  far  for  the  basis  of  Sociolatry,  the  private  worship  ;  there  Domestic 
follows  the  exposition  of  its  second  element.      This,  at  first  Respective 

•    1  11  ii'.'iip  functions  of 

Sight,  would  seem  to  be  distinguished  from  the  two  others   the  Head  of 

11-  ^  ■■       T-,         -1  -1  1  •  the  Family 

solely  m  so  far  as  the  Family  completes  concrete  adoration,  or  and  of  the 
initiates  abstract  effusion,  the  former  of  which  has  its  proper 
place  in  the  private,  the  latter  in  the  public  worship.  Its  dif- 
ference from  the  two  in  these  respects  calls  for  no  peculiar  institu- 
tions, but  it  does  require  fresh  prayers  adapted  to  the  use  of  the 
Family,  the  simplest  form  of  human  society.  Concrete  worship 
takes  in  the  Family  a  collective  and  more  comprehensive  cha- 
Tacter,  more  particularly  as  regards  the  past ;  for  the  father  of 
the  Family  invokes,  as  household  gods,  the  chief  ancestors  of  the 
Family;  and  such  subjective  invocation,  with  the  aid  of  art, 
ought  to  rekindle  the  sense  of  fellowship.  The  priestly  func- 
tion vested  in  the  mother  within  her  proper  sanctuary, — the 
home, — by  her  position,  is  a  step  towards  the  public  worship  of 
the  Great  Being,  whom  she  represents  in  the  Family  by  abstract 
prayers,  to  a  judicious  form  of  which  I  'have  directed  attention 
already  in  the  general  preface  of  this  work. 

But  over   and  above   these,  the  two  habitual  ceremonies   Domestic 

«i  1  IT  (^    a       '    1  "^'orship  con- 

of  domestic  worship,  the  intermediate  element  of  Sociolatry   secratesthe 


vanons 


admits  of  an  organisation,  with  quite  distinct  institutions,  on  pisses  of 
the  principle  of  the  systematic  consecration  of  the  several 
phases  of  domestic  life.  In  the  private  worship  each  one  places 
himself  under  the  patronage  of  the  Family,  whether  subjective 
or  objective.  The  next  step  is  for  the  Family,  as  an  unit,  to 
receive  from  the  priesthood,  as  a  religious  privilege,  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Country.  As  the  final  step,  in  the  public 
worship  the  State  itself  invokes  the  supremacy  of  Humanity. 
Such  is  the  normal  progression  in  which  the  Great  Being  sancti- 
fies, in  succession,  the  three  indispensable  stages  of  its  con- 
tinuous service,  personal,  domestic,  and  civic,  by  placing  each 
under  the  protection  of  the  next  above  it. 

There  never  has  been  wanting  the  consciousness  that  it  is  Previous 

,  1       .  r.        •       I      T  p  confusion  of 

necessarv,  for  the  due  sanction  and  regulation  oi  private  life,  to  the  temporal 

■•         n  r         T  T      Tr  ill        and  spiritual 

bring  it  under  the  natural  influence  oi  public  iite,  as  the  only  powers, 
mode  of  checking  caprice,  and  ensuring  stability.      But  the 


Positivism 

rectifies  tlus 
error. 


1  08     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAS. 

Family  being  the  basis  of  all  other  associations  must,  as  such, 
come  under  the  conjoint  influence  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
State,  respectively  represented  by  the  Priesthood  and  the  Patri- 
ciate. Previous  to  the  separation  of  the  two  powers,  its  rela- 
tion to  both  involved  no  difficulty,  whether  the  ascendancy  in 
society  was  vested  in  the  priests  or  in  the  patricians.  It  was 
only  however  by  virtue  of  their  priestly  character  that  the 
patricians  held  such  ascendancy,  as  is  indicated  most  clearly  in 
the  celebration  of  marriages,  seeing  that  all  authority  in  society 
has  a  theocratic  origin.  In  accordance  with  both  these  ante- 
cedents, as  soon  as  in  Western  Monotheism  the  two  powers 
became  separate,  it  was  on  the  priesthood  exclusively  that  it 
devolved  to  place  the  Family  under  the  regular  action  of  social 
influences.  During  the  decline  of  Catholicism  this  privilege  of 
the  priesthood  was  more  and  more  looked  upon  as  an  usurpa- 
tion upon  the  civil  authority,  to  which  ultimately  the  ecclesias- 
tical succumbed  in  the  three  principal  events  of  private  life, 
birth,  marriage,  and  death.  Nevertheless  the  ascendancy  of 
the  civil  power  would  still  seem  provisional,  as  connected  with 
the  revolutionary  tendency  to  the  absorption  by  the  temporal 
power  of  the  spiritual  function. 

Positivism  alone  is  able  to  introduce  the  normal  condition 
of  things  in  this  respect  by  giving  systematic  expression  to  the 
ultimate  division  of  the  two  powers,  both  of  which  equally,  each 
in  its  own  way,  have  to  regulate  the  domestic  relations.  As 
every  important  phase  of  private  life  has  a  direct  connection 
with  civil  order,  it  is  for  the  patriciate  to  prescribe,  in  refe- 
rence to  it,  such  legal  conditions  as  are  requisite  to  ensui'e 
harmony  in  action.  But  again,  as  the  Family  is  in  connection 
with  the  Church,  it  is  for  the  priesthood  to  develope  this  con- 
nection, and  with  this  object  to  maintain  the  due  supremacy  in 
the  Family  of  the  moral  regulations  called  for  by  the  religious 
consecration  of  the  domestic  relations.  Higher  in  their  nature, 
more  difiicult,  and  at  the  same  time  not  so  absolutely  indis- 
pensable, the  conditions  prescribed  by  the  priesthood  lie 
entirely  within  the  domain  of  conscience,  supported  by  opinion, 
but  rejecting  all  command.  On  the  contrary,  civil  obligations, 
as  more  necessary,  and  of  a  less  delicate  nature,  can  never  be 
optional.  The  several  epochs,  then,  of  domestic  life  demand  a 
twofold  discipline,  the  second  of  the  two  presupposing  the  first, 
the  one  civil,  and  alone  legally  indispensable  ;  and  if  men  brave 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  109 

opinion,  the  only  one  to  which  they  need  submit ;  the  other 
religious,  never  to  rest  on  anything  but  free  acceptance.  This 
latter  discipline  is  found  necessary  to  give  their  full  moral 
character  to  our  relations ;  but,  more  than  this,  it  is  the  sole 
condition  of  securing  for  the  decisions  of  a  purely  local  power 
the  universal  influence  without  which  the  tie  formed  would  be 
deficient  in  binding  force. 

Thus  obligation  and  liberty  have  each  their  legitimate  sphere,  The  Priest, 
and  solely  by  virtue  of  the  determination  of  that  sphere  is  the  FG°cur™toe- 
worship  of  Humanity  enabled  to  exert  its  full  power  to  regulate 
the  Family,  by  securing  its  due  submission  to  conditions  which, 
tinless  freely  accepted,  would  be  oppressive.  The  better  to 
ensure  this  optional  character,  the  priesthood  will  apply  to  the 
patriciate  for  the  institutions  required  for  the  twofold  disci- 
pline, hitherto  liniited  to  the  case  of  marriages,  births,  and 
deaths.  "Without  these  general  remarks,  by  way  of  preamble, 
it  would  not  be  possible  rightly  to  appreciate  the  consecration 
by  religion  of  the  several  phases  of  domestic  life,  and  this  is 
the  only  point  I  have  to  explain  at  present. 

From  this  point  of  view,  life  in  its  entirety  stands  before  us  The 
as  a  series  of  preparations,  with  the  ultimate  object  of  incorpo- 
rating ns  into  the  Great  Being,  when  our  service  has  been 
worthily  paid.  Hence  the  institution  of  a  system  of  nine  social 
sacraments,  by  which  Positive  religion  sanctifies  all  the  great 
epochs  of  private  life,  by  bringing  each  in  its  turn  into  a 
distinct  connection  with  public  life.  The  nine  are,  in  their 
natural  order :  1st,  presentation  ;  2nd,  initiation ;  3rd,  ad- 
tnission  ;  4th,  destination ;  5th,  marriage ;  6th,  maturity ; 
7th,  retireTnent ;  8th,  transformation;  9th,  incorporation, 
implying  a  previous  judgment. 

But  the  function  of  woman  is  so  uniform  and  so  persistent.  Women  ais, 
that  in  her  case  we  dispense  with  the  sacrament  which  precedes  the  fourth, 
marriage  and  the  two  which  follow  it.  seventh. 

Previous  to  any  explanation,  I  should  state  that  the  more  Thosacra- 
important  of  these  sacraments  have  already  been  administered,  ready  adi 
within  the  very  limited  circle  within  which  as  yet  Positivism 
has,  in  a  certain  degree,  overcome  the  habits  of  earlier  beliefs 
and  revolutionary  tendencies. 

Yet,  however  limited,  such  experience  is  an  evidence  that 
the  time  has  come  for  a  religious  reconstruction,  the  more  so  if 
we  take  into  account,  that  the  results  obtained  were  originally 


nine 
crameats. 


110     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE   FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


(i)  Presen- 
tation. 


Tlie  cere- 
monial of 
Pressnta- 
tion. 


(U)  Initifi- 
tion. 


obtained  by  a  purely  oral  exposition.  In  one  sad  case  of 
death,  we  can  even  show  a  full  adherence  to  the  vow  of  eternal 
widowhood,  the  characteristic  feature  of  Positivist  marriage :  a 
young  mother  so  married  (hers  was  the  first  instance)  remains 
in  consequence,  to  use  her  own  noble  language,  a  daughter  of 
Humanity. 

The  iirst  sacrament  is  the  solemn  presentation  by  the 
family  to  the  priesthood  of  the  child  it  devotes  to  the  ever- 
lasting service  of  the  Grreat  Being.  Sanctioning  the  judicious 
improvement  introduced  by  Catholicism,  the  Positive  religion 
requires,  as  the  condition  of  acceptance  of  the  future  servant, 
that  a  second  couple  offer  itself  to  complete  the  guarantees  for 
his  due  training,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral.  The  joint 
action  of  the  natural  and  artificial  protectors  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  each  couple  shares  in  the  selection  of  the  two 
patrons,  the  one  theoretical,  the  other  practical,  chosen,  under 
the  sanction  of  the  priesthood,  from  the  public  representatives 
of  Humanity  in  the  past. 

So  long  as  war  was  the  great  form  of  human  activity,  the 
newborn  were  often  rejected,  as  not  properly  qualified  to  take 
their  part  in  war.  But  modern  civilisation  finds  a  use  for  all 
organisations,  and  therefore  the  sacrament  of  presentation  will 
never  be  refused,  with  exceptions  so  rare  as  to  need  no  provi- 
sion. Delay  of  this  first  sacrament  would  then  only  be  admis- 
sible when  the  parents,  artificial  and  natural,  did  not  offer  the 
proper  guarantees. 

This  inauguration  of  a  new  life  is  a  direct  recognition  of 
the  principle  of  Sociocracy  ;  since  in  it,  there  is  vested  in  the 
two  families  by  the  priest,  as  the  interpreter  of  the  Great 
Being,  an  august  ofEce  on  behalf  of  the  new  child  of  Humanity. 
The  ceremony  consists  chiefly  in  a  full  setting  forth  of  the 
instructions  which  the  discharge  of  the  function  in  its  complete- 
ness requires,  its  free  acceptance  being  an  admission  on  the 
part  of  the  parents  that  private  life  is  in  the  normal  concep- 
tion subordinate  to  public.  To  render  more  complete  the 
guarantee  of  society,  the  priest  presents  the  child  to  the 
witnesses,  and  receives  from  them  a  written  engagement  that,  in 
the  event  of  failure  of  its  proper  protectors,  they  will  supply 
their  place. 

In  the  second  sacrament,  the  child,  at  the  age  of  fom-teen, 
enters  on  its  initiation  into  public  Hfe,  by  passing  from  its 


Chap.  II.J  THE  "WOESHIP.  Ill 

education  by  its  mother  to  the  instruction  of  the  priest.  On 
this  occasion  it  receives  the  counsels  of  religion  in  reference  to 
the  whole  course  of  its  scientific  novitiate,  the  object  being  to 
avert  the  great  danger  of  these  seven  years,  in  which  the  intel- 
lect tends  to  rise  in  revolt  against  the  heart.  If  the  maternal 
education  has  been  unsuccessful  in  training  the  affections, 
initiation  should  be  put  off ;  an  absolute  refusal,  however,  being 
given  only  in  the  extremely  rare  cases  of  radical  incompetence 
for  scientific  culture. 

In  the  third  sacrament,  admission,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  (Ui)  Admis- 
on  the  due  fulfilment  of  his  course  of  intellectual  training,  the 
child  of  Humanity  receives  from  the  priesthood  authorisation 
to  serve  freely  the  Great  Being  ;  from  which  hitherto  he  has 
received  all,  giving  nothing  in  retm-n.  Since  the  fall  of  Poly- 
theism no  religious  ceremony  has  consecrated  this  social 
installation  of  the  individual,  owing  to  the  particular  incom- 
petence of  Monotheism,  especially  Western  Monotheism,  in 
regard  to  public  life.  Positivism  in  this  sacrament  will  com- 
plete the  regulations  of  the  state  as  to  majority  by  the  addition 
of  moral  and  intellectual  conditions,  conditions  not  to  be 
imposed  by  law,  but  without  which  there  would  be  no  solid 
ground  for  the  confidence  which  should  be  given  those  who  are 
to  take  part  as  freemen  in  the  general  action  of  society. 

Admission  in  this  general  form  is  sufficient  for  the  woman,  (iv)  Desti- 
but  seven  years  later  the  man  receives  in  the  fourth  sacrament 
the  investiture  by  religion  in  his  own  peculiar  function.  Not 
till  that  time  can  we  be  sure  that  there  is  a  real  vocation  for 
the  career  of  the  theorician,  a  point  on  which  there  is  generally 
a  mistake  at  the  close  of  the  course  of  abstract  studies.  Mistake 
is  not  so  easy  in  regard  to  a  practical  career,  yet  the  one  finally 
adopted  is  often  not  that  chosen  by  the  father,  and  to  which, 
as  so  chosen,  apprenticeship  was  served  during  the  encyclo- 
paedic training.  The  Positive  education,  while  it  discourages 
capricious  changes,  will  facilitate  such  as  are  desirable,  for  it 
will  qualify  the  proletary  and  even  the  patrician  to  turn  with 
greater  ease  to  another  branch  of  industry.  Through  a  series 
of  free  trials,  then,  the  young  servant  of  Humanity  must  form 
his  distinct  choice  during  the  seven  years  which  follow  his 
general  instruction.  This  introductory  process  will  be  normally 
sufiScient ;  but,  notwithstanding,  the  Positive  social  order  will 
occasionally  offer  instances  of  change  of  career,  particularly 


112     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

amongst  the  proletaries.  This  fourth  sacrament,  then,  or  destina- 
tion, is  the  only  sacrament  which,  in  exceptional  cases,  may  be 
given  more  than  once,  although  its  administration  is  of  itself  a 
preservative  against  the  mistaken  wish  to  quit  one's  class. 

The  rudiment  of  this  sacrament  may  be  traced  to  Theologism, 
nay  even  to  astrolatrical  Fetichism.  But,  except  in  the  Theo- 
cracy, and  this  is  peculiarly  true  of  Catholicism,  it  was  confined 
to  the  highest  public  functions,  the  ordination  of  priests  and 
the  coronation  of  kings.  As  it  is  incumbent  on  Sociocracy  to 
fulfil  all  its  theocratic  antecedents  by  giving  them  a  systematic 
expression,  it  gives  the  sanction  of  religion  to  all  professions 
indiscriminately ;  each  thus  taking  the  social  character  which 
will  render  it  amenable  to  moral  control  in  its  exercise,  what- 
ever be  the  mode  adopted  for  recompensing  its  services. 

This  sacrament  gives  the  priesthood  the  opportunity  of 
marking  the  close  of  education,  in  the  special  sense  of  the 
word,  by  a  solemn  appreciation  of  the  duties  of  the  several 
careers.  The  servant  of  Humanity  is  thus  qualified  to  take  his 
full  share  in  social  life  by  the  foundation  of  a  new  family. 
<T)  Mar-  For  such  is  the  object  of  the  fifth  and  most  important 

sacrament,  the  exact  age  for  receiving  which  must  remain 
undetermined ;  only  the  lower  limit  may  be  fixed,  twenty- 
eight  for  the  man,  and  twenty-one  for  the  woman.  Nor  must 
it  be  without  weighty  reasons  that  the  priesthood  permit 
marriage  beyond  thirty-five  in  the  one  case  and  twenty-eight  in 
the  other. 
Monogamy  The  reader  is  already  familiar  with  the  Positive  theory  of 

Tesuitof        this  fundamental  bond,  by  his   acquaintance  with  the  Greneral 

Western  -  .  .       .  _ 

civilisation.    View,  and  the  explanations  incident  to   the  second    volume, 

explanations  to  be  further  developed  in  the  course  of  the  present 

volume.      It  is  known,  that  the  religion  of  Humanity  looks 

on.  the  establishment  of  monogamy  as  the  grand  result  of  the 

transition  of  the  Western  world  from  Theocracy  to  Sociocracy. 

In  the  thirty  centuries  of  that  transition  this  capital  institution 

has  approached  by  degrees  its  full  completeness  ;  it  attains  it 

in  the  Positivist  regeneration,  for  that  leads  to  the  voluntary 

acceptance  of  eternal  widowhood  without  which  polygamy  still 

continues  in  a  subjective  form. 

Interval  be-  This  final  and  indispensable  modification  of  marriage,  the 

IndTeUgtous  natural  expression  in  brief  of  its  true  theory,  offers  a  general 

marriage.      jruidance  iu  relation  to  the  fifth  sacrament.     That  the  promi  se 


Chap.  II.]  THE  "WOESHIP,  ,  11? 

may  Ipe  well  and  maturely  weighed,  it  has  been  already  found 
by  experience  in  the  new  church,  that  it  must  not  be  accepted 
till  thcee  months  after  the  civil  ceremony  which  allows  the 
married  pair  complete  intimacy.  A  month  before  that  civil  cere^^ 
mony,  a  solemn  engagement  is  taken  by  the  betrothed  parties 
to  observe  chastity  during  the  three  months  that  precede  the 
religious  marriage.  Without  this  trial  neither  party  could 
sufficiently  ensure  his  own  resolution  nor  rely  on  that  of  the 
other,  The  conclusive  test  of  this  novitiate  forms  a  fitting 
introduction  to  married  life,  as  in  it  the  two  are  seen,  whilst 
legally  free,  not  using  their  freedom,  but  preparing  for  subjective 
marriage  by  enjoying  in  its  full  purity  the  union  of  soul  with  soul. 

Led  consequently  to  look  upon  mutual  improvement  as  the  The  vow  of 
true  aim  of  marriage,  on  the  procreation  of  children  as  only  a  widowhood^ 
secondary  object,  they  are  allowed,  in  the  name  of  Humanity,  to  yjf^g^°^°'" 
sign,  in  conjunction  with  all  the  witnesses  to  the  ceremony,  the 
sacred  engagement  of  an  eternal  union.  The  obligation  thus 
voluntarily  contracted  will,  in  the  face  of  such  guarantees,  be 
as  a  rule  irrevocable  ;  yet  there  may  be  exceptional  cases,  and 
in  such  the  High  Priest  of  Humanity,  and  he  alone,  after 
special  enquiry,  may  grant  a  dispensation.  A  decision  to  this 
eifect  by  the  Pontiff  is  the  more  grave  as  it  involves  the  affix- 
ing a  stigma  on  the  memory  of  one  of  the  two  parties ;  except 
the  survivor  feel  unbound  by  a  vow,  taken,  and  shown  to  have  been 
taken  under  a  hasty  impulse,  a  case  hardly  supposable  with  the 
precautions  taken.  In  the  normal  case,  the  promise  of  eternal 
widowhood  is  to  be  solemnly  renewed  six  months  after  the 
expiration  of  the  year  of  mourning,  after  which  no  dispensation 
can  be  allowed.  But  even  then  the  engagement  must  keep  its 
purely  religious  character ;  no  legal  prescription  must  degrade 
it ;  however  strong  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  may  become, 
the  patriciate  will  not  yield  the  point,  and  in  its  resistance  it 
will  be  supported  by  the  urgent  representations  of  the  priest- 
hood. 

"When  duly  trained  for  complete  citizenship  by  married  life,  (7£^*"- 
the  servant  of  Humanity,  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  receives  the 
sixth  sacrament,  which  marks  his  attainment  of  his  full  matu- 
rity as  a  man  and  as  a  citizen.  The  true  function  of  woman  re^ 
quires  no  introductory  step  :  it  begins  with  her  life ;  it  developes 
constantly  as  that  life  developes ;  nay  it  even  gains  in  efficiency 
after  that  life  has  ended.     Men,  on  the  contrary,  have  to  act 

VOL.  IT.  I 


rity. 


114     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     ITHE  FUTURE  OF^  MAN. 


(Tii)  Betire- 
xuent. 


(viii)  Trans- 
formation. 


and  think,  and  need  therefore  a  long  and  complicated  prepara- 
tion to  fit  them  fully  for  their  normal  function.  The  period  of 
its  active  discharge  is  generally  but  half  as  long  as  that  of  pre- 
paration. This  sixth  sacrament  is  the  solemn  inauguration  of 
that  period  ;  more  than  any  other  it  admits  of  adjournment  or 
even  refusal ;  whilst  but  rarely  may  we  anticipate,  in  any  con- 
siderable degree,  its  proper  date. 

In  conferritig  this  sacrament,  one  peculiar  to  Positivism, 
the  priest  warns  the  servant  of  Humanity  that,  whilst  previous 
errors  have  been  reparable,  such  faults  as  he  may  now  commit 
will  be  decisive  as  to  his  incorporation  into  the  Great  Being. 
In  it  the  citizen  sees  the  public  announcement  of  his  capacity 
to  discharge  in  full  a  function,  to  the  lower  degrees  of  which 
he  was  hitherto  confined.  And,  however  uniform  the  career  of 
the  priesthood,  siich  is  the  training  it  requires,  that  the  full 
priestly  office  may  not  be  conferred  at  an  earlier  age  than  that 
appointed  for  civil  offices. 

Through  this  sacrament  we  pass  to  the  seventh,  in  which 
the  practical  servant  of  Humanity,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three, 
enters  on  a  wise  retirement  from  active  life  ;  retaining,  how- 
ever, a  consultative  influence,  by  virtue  of  which  he  is  distinctly 
constituted  a  legitimate  auxiliary  of  a  priesthood,  traceable  in 
its  earliest  form  to  the  elders.  He  ends  his  active  career  by 
the  proclamation,  in  the  face  of  Humanity,  of  his  final  choice  of 
his  successor,  a  choice  submitted  seven  years  before  to  puhHc 
opinioU  for  acceptance  or  rejection.  The  office  of  the  priest, 
unlike  that  of  women,  requires  preparation,  btit  it  approaches 
closely  that  of  women  in  duration ;  so  that  the  seventh  sacra- 
ment is  confined  to  practical  men,  the  theoricians  of  course 
limiting  themselves  to  those  duties  for  which  they  continue 
well  qualified. 

The  eighth  sacrament  is  the  substitute  Positivism  offers  for 
the  inhuman  ceremony  in  which  Catholicism,  forgetful  of  its 
aim,  but  true  to  its  doctrine,  made  the  breaking  of  all  human 
ties  the  indispensable  condition  of  an  eternity  as  selfish  as  it  is 
chimerical.  The  priesthood  of  Humanity  associates  the  regret 
of  his  fellow-citizens  witli  the  tears  of  his  family,  and  repre- 
sents to  the  dying  man  the  existence  on  which  he  is  entering,  as 
the  completion  after  death  of  the  services  by  which  in  life  he 
has  deserved  such  reward.  Whilst  bound  not  to  forestall  the 
ulterior  judgment,  the  priesthood  will,  as  a  rule,  hold  out  the 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  .115 

hope  that  that  judgment  will  be  favourahle,  on  condition  o^ 
sincere  repentance,  and,  where  possible,  reparation. 

Seven  years  after  the  latest  consecration  of  the  liviner,  a  ('^^  J"""'- 

*'  o7        poration. 

consecration  of  the  dead  perfects  the  series  of  objective  pre- 
parations, and  proclaims,  before  an  appropriate  bier,  the 
solemn  incorporation  of  its  occupant  into  the  Great  Being. 
Such  an  interval  combines  maturity  of  judgment  on  the  part  of 
the  priesthood  with  the  preservation  of  the  various  documents 
it  requires  for  its  judgment.  To  bring  public  opinion  to  bear 
more  satisfactorily,  a  provisional  decision  is  given  in  the  fourth 
year,  a  decision  susceptible  of  revision  and  preparatory  of  the 
final  and  irreversible  sentence. 

Such  is  the  last  sacrament,  by  which  Sociocracy,  brought 
into  direct  connection  with  Theocracy,  completes  the  process  of 
consecrating  all  the  marked  epochs  of  man's  mortal  life  by 
incorporating  it  with  the  eternal  life  of  Humanity.  The  cere- 
mony of  the  final  judgment  consists  principally  in  the  solemn 
transfer  of  the  noble  remains  to  the  sacred  grove  which  should 
surround  each  temple  of  Humanity.  This  act  initiates  a 
definitive  cultus  of  the  man  and  of  the  citizen,  paid  at  the 
sacred  tomb,  which  is  adorned  with  an  inscription,  a  bust,  or  a 
statue,  according  to  the  degree  of  honour  accorded.  An 
adverse  sentence,  as  a  rule,  is  simply  negative  ;  it  treats,  that  is, 
as  final,  the  civil  burial  with  which  the  priesthood  is  never  con- 
cerned. In  cases  where  strong  reprobation  is  deserved,  the 
body  of  the  condemned  is  borne  in  a  fitting  manner  to  the 
waste  ground  allotted  to  the  rejected,  there  to  lie  with  those 
who  have  been  publicly  executed,  with  suicides  and  with 
duellists,  though  not,  as  they  are,  subject  to  anatomical  exami- 
nation. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  preceding  exposition,  in  which  it  has  special  mo- 
been  impossible  to  explain  the  worship  without   anticipating  domestic  m- 

,  .  •  J-     j_      j_i        •    1  r  b    lations,  e.g, 

upon  the  regime,  maniiests  the  inherent  competence  of  Socio-  adoption, 
latry  to  deal  with  domestic  life,  all  its  phases  finding  their 
appropriate  regulation  in  the  nine  sacraments.  The  consecra- 
tion of  that  life,  if  it  is  to  be  complete,  must  embrace  the 
modifications  which,  if  not  universal,  are  yet  so  frequent  as  to 
call  for  the  sanction  of  the  priesthood.  Such  a  modification 
will  be,  in  particular,  Adoption,  an  institution  to  be  largelv 
developed  in  the  Positive  state  ;  its  religious  ceremonial  to  be 
connected,  as  the  case  may  require,  either  with  the  sacran^ent 

I  2 


116     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Wh^ein  lies 
the  power  of 
these  sacra- 
ments. 


The  Series 

Personal, 

Domestic, 

Public 

Worship. 


Public  Wor- 
shij). 


Tbe  Calen- 
dar., What 
a  date  is. 


The  Week 


of  presentation,  or  it  may  be,  witli  those  of  destination  and' 
retirement. 

In  estimating  the  power  of  these  various  ceremonies,  we  see 
that  it  depends  throughout  on  the  habitual  practice  of  personal 
worship,  whether  prior  in  order  of  time  or  coexistent ;  in 
default  of  such  habit  the  priesthood  would  be  unable  by  the 
sacraments  to  excite  any  but  mere  transient  emotions.  But 
they  who,  by  the  habit  of  daily  prayer,  are  ever  ready  to  feel 
and  to  understand  the  Great  Being,  will  receive  deep  impres- 
sions from  these  consecrations,  sanctifying  as  they  do  in  combi- 
nation the  life  of  each,  as  connecting  it  by  gradual  steps  with 
Humanity.  Their  interdependence  is  calculated  to  secure  easy 
access  for  the  inflxience  of  each,  as  each  resumes  its  predecessors, 
nay  even  heralds  its  successors,  so  as  to  be  a  conclusive  evidence 
of  adhesion  to  the  true  religion. 

The  family  worship  rests  on  the  personal,  and  is  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  public,  by  its  introducing,  in  an  elementary  form, 
the  abstraction  and  the  publicity  which  are  the  characteristics 
of  public  worship.  To  give  an  ideal  embodiment  of  Sociology 
and  still  more  of  Sbciocracy,  such  is  the  aim  of  our  system  of 
Sociolatry,  and  its  power  to  attain  it  is  seen  on  a  comparison  of 
its  three  general  forms  or  stages.  For  the  first,  purely  statical, 
represents  order ;  the  second,  mainly  dynamical,  represents 
progress;  the  last,  both  statical  and  dynamical,  is  the  expres- 
sion of  the  combination  of  order  and  progress. 

Previous  to  entering  on  public  worship,  the  direct  worship, 
that  is,  of  Humanity,  I  must  explain  the  calendar  it  requires. 
Its  introduction  gives  systematic  form  to  a  construction 
begun  during  Fetichism,  and  by  the  necessity  of  the  case 
preserving  its  empirical  character  till  the  advent  of  Posi- 
tivism. 

To  date,  is  to  distinguish  each  day  by  the  place  it  holds  in 
the  whole  period  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the  era  chosen. 
If  stated  directly  and  simply,  it  would  involve  too  large 
numbers,  even  as  regards  the  duration  of  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual, much  more  in  reference  to  that  of  the  society.  For 
dates  then  we  must,  as  in  abstract  numeration,  adopt  an 
indirect  and  compound  system  by  gi'ouping  the  days,  not 
however  exceeding  three  orders  of  groups,  or  we  necessarily  get 
confused. 

Of  these  periods,  or  gi-oups  of  days,  which  are  at  once  of  man's 


Chap.  II.]  T^E  "WOESHIP.  117 

■institution  and  natural,  it  is  the  smallest  alone  which  hitherto 
has  gained  unanimous  acceptance  by  virtue  of  the  subjective  Voi.iii. 
properties  of  the  number  seven,  pointed  out  in  the  last  volume. 
Positivism  explains  the  attributes  of  the  week,  and  by  so  doing 
places  on  rational  grounds  an  institution  instinctively  adopted, 
which  goes  back  to  Fetichism,  even  in  its  nomad  stage.  But 
Positivism,  whilst  referring  to  the  week  its  whole  system  of 
public  worship,  sanctions  and  regulates  the  combination  of  the 
week  with  larger  periods,  for  otherwise  the  date  would  still 
require  too  high  numbers.  As  far  as  possible,  it  connects  these 
periods  with  the  week,  in  order  to  facilitate  numerical  com- 
parisons, and  most  of  all  with  the  view  of  introducing  the 
greatest  possible  concordance  into  our  religious  solemnities. 
The  two  conditions  are  met  by  a  judicious  combination  of  the 
month  and  the  year,  the  two  periods  in  common  use,  regard  The  Month 

_     .  ./         7  J.  .         .  and  the 

bemg  had  to  their  true  nature ;  the  month  being  subjective,  fear, 
the  year  objective. 

All  divergences  relating  to  the  calendar  are  to  be  looked  Lunar  ana 
upon  as  traceable,  above  all,  to  a  want  of  the  due  recognition  of 
this  inherent  difference  of  the  two  periods.  It  was  from  not 
being  awake  to  it  that  our  Fetichist  ancestors,  when  arranging 
their  calendar,  had  recourse  to  the  external  world  for  the  two 
higher  periods,  guided  by  the  apparent  movements  of  the  moon 
and  sun.  The  first  naturally  was  in  the  ascendant  during  the 
nomad  period;  that  of  the  sun  during  astrolatry,  properly  so 
called,  at  which  time  the  priesthood  made  a  first  attempt  at  its 
calculation.  But  the  numerical  discrepancy  between  the  two 
movements  soon  became  evident,  and  compelled  the  abandon- 
ment of  an  objective  agreement,  and  the  acquiescence  in  a 
subjective  connection.  Such  a  connection  might  assume  one 
or  other  of  two  forms,  each  excluding  the  other,  according  as 
one  or  other  period  became  artificial,  though  the  lunar  period 
was  never  artificial  enough.  Hence  the  two  forms  of  the 
calendar,  the  lunar  and  the  solar ;  in  which  at  one  time  the  year 
is  made  to  depend  on  the  month,  at  another  the  month  on  the 
year.  Whichever  form  was  adopted,  the  ground  of  connection 
was  always  essentially  the  worship,  and  the  worship,  since  the 
period  of  astrolatry,  was  indissolubly  connected  with  the  week. 

It  is  on  the  same  ground  that  Positivism  rests  its  definitive  Positivism 
arrangement,  by  at  once  ratifying  the  unanimous  preference  of  sola?  year! 
the  western  world  for  the  solar  calendar,  as  the  direct  combina- 


118     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.    "THE  FUTUEE  0^  MAN. 

tion  of  the  two  simultaneous  movements  of  the  Earth.     Theo- 
cracy laid  the  basis  of  their  general  agreement  by  its  institution 
of  mean  time  ;  an  arrangement  completed,  during  the  "Western 
transition,  by  the  intercalation  of  leap  year,  first  by  Julius 
Csesar,  subsequently   by   Gregory  XI.     The  Positive  religion 
adopts  without   hesitation   this    slight    alteration   of  the  two 
natural  periods,  and  its  consequence,  their  perfect  agreement ; 
and    devotes   it   to    the    evidencing   the    fundamental   subor- 
dination  of  the  subjective   to  the   objective,  a  subordination 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  whole  belief  of  mankind  in  its  final 
form.      In  the  solar    year  thus  constituted    by  the  Western 
world,  the  festivals  of  Humanity  recur  with  the  recurrence  of 
the  leading  phenomena,  the  cosmological  in  the  first  place,  and 
then  the  biological  phenomena,  characteristic  of  the  planetary- 
milieu  which  Humanity  respects  whilst  she  improves  it.     Our 
various    ancestors  having  thus  coordinated    the    two  natural 
periods,  the  day  and  the  year,  it  remains  for  us  to  perfect  the 
calendar  as  an  institution  by  bringing  into  satisfactory  agree- 
ment the  two  periods  of  man's  creation  which  connect  them. 
DiTision  of    '       AH  relation  to  the  moon  being  set  aside,  and  the  month 
into^tMrteen  becoming  as  subjective  as  the  week,  we  soon  come  to  see  that 
four  weeks     it   is    necossary  to   make  the    month    invariably  four  weeks 
efgMdays.     exactly,  which  leads  to  the  division  of  the  year  into  thirteen 
months.      The  complementary  day  with  which,  on  this  system, 
each  year  ends,  will  have  no  weekly  or  monthly  designation, 
any  more  than  will  the  additional  day  which  follows  it  in  leap 
years.     Their  names  will  be  derived  solely  from  the  festivals 
appointed  for  them,  and  in  this  way  we  secure  the  continuity 
of  the  Positivist  calendar,  all   its    months  beginning  with  a 
Monday  and  ending  with   a  Sunday.      "We  may  add  that  it 
keeps  the  present  beginning  of  the  "V\'estern  year,  so  placed  as 
to  represent  a   renovation,   since  with   it   the   days  begin  to 
lengthen  in  the  Northern  or  principal  hemisphere  of  the  Earth. 
Be  they  what  they  may,  however,  it  is  not  the  practical  ad- 
vantages of  this  ultimate  modification  of  the  calendar,  so  much 
as   the   requirements   of  the  worship,   which   will   ensure  its 
acceptance. 
Reasons  for       '    Private  worship   alone  would  justify  the  modification,  in 
the  change.    Qj.^gj.  j-q  avoid  the  painful  uncertainty  to  which  our  affectionate 
memories  are    often    exposed   from   the   existing   discrepancy 
between  the  two  artificial  dates.     Though  domestic  worship  less 


Chap.  II.]  THE  •WOESHIP,  119 

•^irgently  demands  the  agreement  of  the  two,  it  has  its  fitness 
here  also,  as  by  its  help  alone  we  can  sufficiently  recall  the  nine 
ceremonies  always  appointed  for  the  Thursday.  It  is,  however, 
^bove  all,  the  whole  system  of  public  festivals  which  places 
beyond  dispute  the  necessity  of  the  leading  innovation,  the 
division,  that  is,  of  the  year  into  thirteen  months. 

No  other  number  in  fact  can  satisfy  the  several  demands  Apportion-, 

*'  ment  of  the 

of  the  abstract  cultus,  in  which  we  have  to  celebrate,  first,  the  thirteen 

montlis. 

fundamental  nature  of  the  Great  Being ;  then  the  stages  of  itg 
necessarily  gradual  formation;  lastly,  its  existence  in  the 
'  normal  state.  From,  the  first  point  of  view,  the  month  with 
which  the  year  opens  must  be  devoted  to  the  synthetical 
worship  of  Humanity,  resting  on  the  due  subordination  of  its 
several  nuclei  to  its  sempiternal  whole.  But  this  direct  com- 
memoration of  the  great  public  bond  of  unity  requires,  to  com- 
plete it,  the  particular  consecration  of  each  of  the  private  ties 
on  which  it  rests.  Now  they  are  five  in  number  :  marriage ; 
the  paternal ;  filial ;  fraternal ;  and  domestic  relations ;  ranked 
on  the  principle  of  decrease  of  intimacy  and  increase  of  gene- 
rality, each  has  one  of  the  five  succeeding  months  devoted  to  it; 
The  statical  portion  of  the  worship  thus  fully  allowed  for,  the 
dynamical  pprtion  takes  three  more  months,  devoted  severally 
to  the  three  grand  phases  of  the  preparation  of  the  race  5 
Fetichist ;  Polytheist ;  and  lastly  Monotheist.  On  this  statical 
and  dynamical  foundation,  the  four  last  months  give  ample 
scope  for  the  direct  adoration  of  the  true  providence  in  its 
yarious  forms  :  moral ;  intellectual ;  material ;  and  general ; 
vested  respectively  in  women,  the  priesthood,  the  patriciate, 
and  the  proletariate.  Thus  the  thirteen  months  of  the  Posi- 
tivist  year  are  found  indispensable  to  Sociolatry,  if  it  is  ade- 
quately to  idealise  Sociology  and  Sociocracy. 

In  the  calendar  of  Humanity,  in  this  its  final  form,  two  The  Positive 
secondary   questions   for   the  present  must  remain  imsettled.  Axea.nor 
The  first  is  that  of  the  Positive  era,  for  which  we  cannot  in  nlmBs  at 
anywise  adopt  that  introduced  by  the  monotheistic  transition. 
Islamic  or  Catholic.      Naturally  the  Positive  era  must  have 
reference  to  the  triumph  of  the  true  religion,  the  date  of  which 
must  be  as  yet  uncertain.    The  second  point  is  the  impossibility 
pf  adhering  in  our  definitive  systematisation  of  the  calendar  to  « 

the  present  heterogeneous  nomenclature  of  the  months ;  not  to  .  _; 

speak;  of  the  confusion  resulting  from  the  difference  in  this 


l20     SYSTEM  OF  POSITI-tE  POLITY,     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN, 


Idealisation 
of  the  days 
ofthe  week. 


Concrete 
nomencla- 
ture of  the 
week, 


Abstract 

nomeucla- 

ture. 


tespect  of  the  different  calendars-  Yet  we  cannot  at  the  present 
day  decide  whether  the  new  names  will  be  taken  from  the 
subjects  to  which  they  are  consecrated,  or  from  the  order  of 
succession,  the  fortunate  circumstance  that  the  two  grounds 
coincide  leaving  the  question  undecided. 

To  complete  this  theory  of  the  Positivist  calendar,  I  must 
indicate  the  ultimate  form  of  the  idealisation  of  the  several 
days  of  the  week.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  drawn  from  their 
existing  names,  which  we  ought  carefully  to  retain,  as  they 
recall  the  whole  education  of  the  race,  instituted  as  they  were 
by  Ffitichism,  sanctioned  by  Polytheism,  and  adopted  by  Mono- 
theism. Their  adaptation  to  this  end  is  the  more  valuable,  as 
it  arises  from  their  representing  in  succession  the  various 
heavenly  bodies  which  are  in  real  connection  with  man's  planet, 
for  all  essential  purposes  independent  of  all  the  others. 

The  agreement  of  Positivism  with  earlier  systems  on  this 
point — ^its  agreement,  historically  and  dogmatically — in  tho- 
rough conformity  with  the  whole  conception  of  the  week  as 
a  subjective  institution,  is  yet  of  too  abstract  a  character  not 
to  require  a  concrete  addition,  such  addition  to  be  derived 
from  the  transition  of  the  West  from  Theocracy  to  Sociocracy. 
The  addition  consists  in  this,  that  whilst  we  adhere  to  the 
actual  names  as  precious,  we  consecrate  the  seven  days  of  the 
week  to  the  memory  of  the  seven  principal  organs  of  that 
transition :  Homer,  Aristotle,  Ceesar,  St.  Paul,  Charlemagne, 
Dante,  and  Descartes.  This  series  of  names  adequately  repre- 
sents the  whole  of  this  capital  evolution  ;  an  evolution  peculiarj 
it  is  true,  to  the  West,  but  deserving  to  be  had  in  familiar 
remembrance  in  all  ages  and  countries  as  having  been  the 
indispensable  condition  of  the  final  regeneration.  The  intro- 
duction of  these  names  is  a  compensation  for  the  inevitable 
imperfection  of  the  abstract  worship  as  regards  the  concrete 
commemoration  of  the  past,  the  three  months  reserved  for  the 
past  being  insufficient  for  such  commemoration.  Their  adop- 
tion vrill  be  the  easier  as  it  merely  requires  the  definitive 
transfer  to  the  days  of  the  week  of  the  highest  monthly  types  of 
the  provisional  calendar,  to  be  explained  in  the  chapter  which 
treats  of  the  last  period  of  the  transition. 

Once  more,  the  week  admits  of  an  abstract  nomenclature, 
as  we  may  dedicate  the  seven  days  to  the  seven  fundamental 
sciences  :    Mathematics,  Astronomy,  Physics,  Chemistry,  Bio- 


CHiF.  II.]  THE-  WOKSHII*,  121 

l^SJ'  Sociology,  and  Morals^  This  second  method  is  not 
incompatible  with  the  former ;  is  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
bur  public  worship  ;  and  will  familiarise  us  with  the  encyclo- 
paedic hierarchy  and  the  relative  conception  of  the  world  in 
which  we  live.  It  is  a  consequence  of  the  concurrence  of  the 
two  forms  that  the  festival  at  the  end  of  each  week  will  be 
marked  by  its  consecration  at  once  to  the  highest  science  and 
to  the  immediate  precursor  of  the  final  religion. 

Thus  in  the  calendar  of  Humanity  we  have  two  artificial  Groups  o£ 
periods,  in  subordination  the  one  to  the  other;  the  two 
occupying  an  intermediate  position  between  two  other  periods 
of  natural  origin  and  brought  into  sufficient  agreement ;  the 
object  of  the  whole  system  being  to  make  the  succession  of 
time  an  expression  of  all  the  relations  of  man  with  his  fellows 
or  with  the  external  world.  As  for  groups  of  years,  it  is  enough 
if  we  recall  the  systematic  adoption,  indicated  in  the  last 
chapter,  of  the  old  relation  between  the  century  and  the 
generation.  When,  in  consequence  of  the  duration  of  the 
Great  Being,  higher  unities  are  required,  it  will  be  easy  for  the 
priesthood  to  form  them. 

The  theory  of  the  calendar  is  a  preliminary  to  our  more  Direct  treat. 
direct  examination  of  the  public  worship,  such  worship  really  Public  wor- 
being  the  developement  of  the  system  of  abstract  adoration  in  ^  *' 
which  the  whole  Positivist  calendar  issues.     "Were  it  not  for  the 
fear  of  excess  in  the  number  of  festivals,  we  might  decompose 
Sociolatry  to  the  extent  of  festivals  for  each  day  and  yet  leave 
unimpaired  the  homogeneity  of  the  presentation.      Eespecting 
the  limits,  however,  imposed  by  the  exigencies  of  daily  life,  we 
must  here  devote  oiu:  attention  to  the  four  festivals  of  each 
month,  always  fixed  for  the  Sunday. 

Our  descendants  will  begin  the  year  with  the  most  august  The  iPestiyai 
of  all  its  solemnities,  the  festival   in   the   immediate  honour  and  those  of 
of  the  Great  Being,  whose  children   and  servants   they  will  moath. 
acknowledge  themselves.     The  nature  of  that  Being,  at  once 
composite  and  subjective ;  its  existence  based  upon  love ;  its 
submission  to  an  order  which  it  improves  ;  all  these  conceptions 
will  receive  an  artistic  expression  in  this  initial  festival,  on 
which  'all  will   dutifully  renew  their  devotion  of  themselves 
to  the  work  of  regeneration.      This  synthetical  inauguration, 
wherein  care  will  be  taken  to  pay  fitting  honour  to  the  animal 
races  which  are  man's  auxiliaries,  will  have  its  full  signification 


122     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAS. 


Festivals  of 
the  second 
month. 
Marriage^ 


drawn  out  by  more  special  festivals,  in  commemoration  of  the 
different  degrees  or  forms  peculiar  to  human  association,  on  the 
four  Sundays  of  the  first  month.  The  first  will  glorify  the, 
union  of  the  race,  built  on  the  foundation  of  a  demonstrable 
faith;  the  only  faith  that  is  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term 
religious,  but  which  is  the  outcome  of  a  preparation  to  which 
all  the  fictitious  beliefs  of  Humanity  have  contributed.  The 
second  Sunday  commemorates  the  largest  form  of  partial  as- 
sociations, a  form  which  in  the  main  has  become  a  thing  of 
the  past,  but  of  which  a  visible  trace  survives  in  the  language 
common  to  several  populations  once  subject  to  one  government. 
On  the  third  Sunday,  the  festival  of  the  Country  honours  the 
political  tie  in  its  most  perfect  form,  with  a  view  to  foster 
the  feelings  of  affection  between  fellow-citizens  which  wiU  then 
be  deeply  felt,  as  the  nations  will  be  reduced  within  moderate 
limits.  Finally,  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  of  Humanity, 
we  pay  homage  to  the  primary  form  in  which  Families  unite, 
the  Township,  the  closest  union  of  man  for  practical  purposes, 
so  happily  expressed  by  the  French  word  commune. 

During  the  second  month,  the  month  in  which  will  be  con- 
centrated the  fifth  sacrament.  Marriage,  the  several  forms  of 
the  conjugal  union  will  receive  honour.  The  first  Simday  will 
be  devoted  to  Marriage  in  its  complete  form,  showing  how 
greatly  the  harmony  of  the  married  couple  is  confirmed  and 
increased  by  their  concert  in  the  due  discharge  of  the  holy 
function  vested  in  them  as  regards  the  child  of  Humanity.  It 
is,  however,  the  second  festival  of  the  month  that  will  represent 
in  its  truest  character  the  conjugal  union,  by  its  recognition  of 
the  superior  perfection  of  chaste  marriage ;  where  the  union  is 
the  union  of  the  heart  only,  procreation  being  formally 
reserved  for  those  best  qualified  for  it.  We  have  in  the  last 
masterpiece  of  the  great  Corneille  the  anticipation  of  such  an 
union  ;  and  it  will  lose  the  anomalous  character  now  attaching 
to  it,  when  Positive  education  has  told  sufficiently  on  the  two 
sexes,  without  waiting  for  the  realisation  of  the  hypothesis  of 
the  last  chapter,  by  which  propagation  is  limited  to  the 
woman..  The  third  Sunday  will  be  devoted  to  a  form  of 
marriage  which  will  be  a  rare  exception  ;  the  form  in  which 
imperfect  agreement  is  all  that  is  attainable,  by  virtue  of  a 
deficient  parity,  a  disparity  naturally  of  age  rather  than  of 
^ank,  never  of  wealth,  as  is  evident,  since  dowries  are  abolished. 


Chap.  II.]'  THE  WORSHIP,  123 

Closing  the  marriage  month  by  a  ceremony  in  special  honour  of 
the  subjective  union,  consequent  on  the  law  of  -widowhood,  it 
•will  be  shown  how  indispensable  is  the  perpetuity  of  the 
marriage  bond  to  the  sincere  worship  of  the  Great  Being,  a 
Being  composed  mainly  of  the  dead.  If  incapable  of  living  an 
ideal  life  in  communion  with  the  highest  object  of  our  love,  we 
are  by  such  incapacity  disqualified  for  feeling,  nay  even  for 
understanding,  the  past  which  has  preceded  us — the  future 
which  is  to  succeed  us. 

One  and  the  same  explanation  may  here  sufiBce  for  the  Thetwid, 
three  next  months,  as  there  is  a  natural  agreement  in  regard  fiftii  months. 
to  the  relations  to  which  they  are  respectively  devoted :  the  KUai,  and 
Parental,  Filial,  and  Fraternal  relations.  I  limit  myself  then  Eeiations. 
to  the  analysis  in  detail  of  the  first  case,  the  most  important 
and  the  most  strongly  marked  of  the  three ;  urging  the  reader 
to  adapt  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  months  the  subdivisions  of  the 
third.  On  the  first  Sunday,  we  deal  with  the  paternal  relation 
in  its  complete  and  natural  form,  its  only  really  normal  form, 
the  form  in  which  the  affection  given  to  the  son  has  its  root  in 
the  tenderness  felt  for  the  mother,  such  an  indirect  origin 
being  necessitated  by  the  weakness  of  the  paternal  instinct  in 
men.  On  the  second  Sunday,  we  honour  the  voluntary  and  yet 
complete  tie  formed  by  a  judicious  adoption,  even  where  the 
person  adopted  is  an  adult  perfectly  unconnected  with  the 
family.  The  institution  of  adoption,  emailating  from  Fetichism, 
was  transformed  by  the  Theocrats,  but  it  is  only  Positivism  to 
which  it  is  fully  suited ;  Sociocracy  will  spread  a  deep  sense  of 
its  value,  without  waiting  for  human  procreation  to  become 
independent  of  the  father.  On  the  third  Sunday,  we  celebrate 
the  incomplete,  yet  voluntary  paternity  due  to  spiritual  connec- 
tion; this  too  waits  for  its  full  developement  in  the  system 
in  which  everyone  will  be  for  seven  years  under  the  guidance 
of  one  and  the  same  priest  of  Humanity.  The  analogous 
temporal  connection  cannot  be  as  complete ;  still  it  deserves 
commemoration  on  the  last  Sunday  of  the  month,  when,  under 
both  its  aspects,  will  be  shown  the  value  of  a  relation  which 
wiU  be  more  common  and  more  permanent  in  the  sociocratic 
regime,  by  virtue  of  a  degree  of  liberty  which  was  incompatible 
with  the  Theocracy. 

To  the  domestic  relation,  or  that  of  master  and  servant,  is  The  sixth 
•devoted  the  whole  of  the  sixth  month,  and  hereby  the  worshij)  Domesticity. 


124    :  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUT0EE  OF  MAN. 


The  follow- 
ing quarter 
oilers  dy- 
namical 
festivals. 

Additional 
Thursday 
commemo- 
ratioQS. 


of  Humanity  will  place  in  its  true  light  this  institution :  an 
institution  which,  meant  to  perfect  the  family  by  binding  it  to 
society,  could  not  be  on  its  right  footing  whilst  slavery  per- 
sisted. Since  the  establishment  of  personal  freedom  it  has 
been  impossible,  owing  to  the  anarchy  of  the  West,  to  estimate 
aright  this  indispensable  link  between  man  and  man ;  the 
great  misconceiving  it  in  their  pride :  the  inferiors  in  their 
insubordination.  But  when  all  life  is  viewed  as  an  honourable 
service,  it  will  be  but  natural  to  respect  the  families  which  offer, 
as  their  best  contribution  to  the  conservation  and  advancement 
of  Humanity,  their  voluntary  services  in  aid  of  her  individual 
interpreters  or  ministers.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  the  sixth 
month,  we  shall  honour  domestic  service  in  its  permanent  and 
complete  form,  in  which  it  more  particularly  applies  to  patri- 
cians, but  never  on  conditions  incompatible  with  the  indulgence 
of  conjugal  and  maternal  affection,  and  to  be  given  only  when 
an  improvement  in  habits,  feelings,  and  position  shall  forbid 
service  where  it  is  undeserved.  Such  a  voluntary  fusion  of 
two  families  will  often  be  so  complete,  that  the  priesthood, 
when  proclaiming  the  glorification  after  death  of  one  of  the  two, 
will  give  the  other  a  share  in  its  consecrated  tomb — in  order 
that  both  together  may  receive  the  homage  of  their  respective 
descendants  and  even  of  their  fellow-citizens.  The  peculiar 
services  of  clerks  call  forth  less  self-devotion,  as  is  indicated  by 
their  separate  dwellings,  yet  when  permanent  it  is  a  relation  to 
be  commemorated  on  the  second  Sunday  in  this  month ;  the 
other  two  weeks  of  which  will  distinguish  in  like  manner  the 
temporary  service  of  pages  and  apprentices.  By  its  compre- 
hension of  these  last,  Sociolatry  will  show  the  universal 
applicability  of  a  position  which  has  been,  dating  from  the 
Middle  Ages,  connected  with  the  training  of  the  individual, 
even  in  the  case  of  patricians,  and  has  been  at  all  times  calcu- 
lated to  develope,  on  both  sides,  the  three  social  instincts. 

Thus,  in  the  first  six  months,  the  public  worship  of  Hu- 
manity expresses  in  an  ideal  form  the  fundamental  nature  of 
the  Great  Being  under  all  its  essential  aspects;  it  devotes 
the  three  months  which  follow  to  the  commemoration  of  the 
principal  phases  of  its  necessarily  gradual  evolution.  The 
festivals,  hitherto,  statical  in  character,  now  become  dynamical, 
but  not  therefore  less  abstract ;  for  were  they  otherwise,  not  to 
speak  of  the  impairment  of  harmony  in  the  system,  so  short  a 


Chap,  ir.]  THE  WOESHIP.  125 

period  would  not  afiford  scope  for  the  adequate  glorification  of 
the  past.  Still,  the  better  to  fulfil  this  condition,  it  is  desirable 
during  these  three  months,  as  a  preparation  for  the  abstract 
ceremony  of  the  Sunday,  to  fix  a  concrete  one  on  the  Thursday, 
in  honour  of  the  highest  representative  of  the  period  under 
consideration. 

This  commemoration  as  a  whole  would  appear  most  appro-  The  com- 
priate  to  the  opening  period  of  our  maturity,  to  recall  it  to  the,  as  suitable 
sense  of  continuity  which  has  been  more  and  more  falling  into  future  as  for 
abeyance,  especially  in  the  West  since  the  advent  of  Monotheism. 
And  yet  the  most  distant  future  will  never,  nor  in  any  place, 
cease  to  commemorate  the  indispensable  initiation  of  the  race, 
limited  though  it  was  in  its  later  stages  to  the  nations  on  which 
devolved  the  task  of  shaping  the  whole  social  economy.     Not 
only  will  the  training  of  the  individual  in  all  cases  repeat  the 
leading  features  of  the  preparation;    but  the  hteart  and  the; 
intellect  will  agree  in  honouring  the  first  life  of  the  Grreat 
Being,  the'  perfectibility  of  its  nature  ever  reminding  us  of  a 
beginning  which  is  a  title  to  glory. 

No  period  of  man's  existence  on  earth  but  must  find  its  Thishistori- 
place  in  the  worship,  and  yet  the  historical  division  of  that  tSeouitiB 
worship  will  never  receive  any  considerable  addition;    hence'  noffrea™' 
even  now  we  may  give  it  its  definitive  form.      For,  the  normal  beingpossi- 
state  once  fully  established,  its  onward  movement,  continuous- 
though  gradual,  will  necessarily  escape  the  marked  changes  of 
the  preparatory  period.    The  stronger  the  stimulus  given  by  this 
dynamical  period  to' the  instincts  of  progress,  the  more  com- 
plete also  must  be  its  control  of  those  instincts,  by  implanting, 
the  conviction,  that  the  anarchical  advance  of  our  educational, 
age  suibsides,  in  the  normal  state,  into  the  developement  of 
order  with  the  aim  of  consolidating  it. 

The  limits  then  of  the  historical  portion  of  Sociolatry.are 
irremovably  fixed,  and  I  have  now  to  explain  in  detjail  its  three 
constituents.  ,  ,  ,      , 

The  definitive  fusion  of  the  Fetichist  in  the  Positive- spirits  The  seventh 

^.  •  month. 

does  not  supersede  the  necessity  of  an  historical  commemora-  FeticMsm, 
tion  of  the  infancy  of  Humanity.     In  fact,  the  absorption  of 
Fetichism  is  limited  to  its  principles,  and  does  not  extend  to 
its  institutions,  which  perished  utterly  with  the  state  of  things 
to  which  they  were  adapted.     Eegarding  Fetichism  as  sponta- 


126     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Spontaneous 
Feticliism. 

(1)  ITomad. 


(2)  Seden- 
tary. 


Systematic 
3?etiohism. 

(1)  Sacer- 
dotal. 


neous  Positivism  in  its  earliest  stage,  the  systematic  worstip  of 
Humanity  devotes  to  it  the  whole  of  the  seventh  month. 

The  nomad  period  was  longer  in  duration  than  any  other, 
and  laid  the  main  foundations  of  all  human  education ;  this  we 
must  not  forget ;  yet  as  by  the  nature  of  the  case  the  docu- 
ments relating  to  it  are  inadequate,  we  only  give  the  first  week 
to  its  distinct  commemoration.  The  object  of  the  Sunday's 
ceremonial  will  be,  to  produce  a  just  sense  of  the  benefits, 
transient  or  permanent,  conferred  on  the  race  by  this  initial 
period  ;  a  period  with  which  we  shall  always  feel  a  sympathy, 
as  recalling  our  natural  fondness  for  the  wandering  life  of  the 
hunter  and  the  shepherd.  The  Sunday,  however,  were  incom- 
plete without  the  preparatory  festival  on  the  Thursday,  devoted 
to  the  capital  fact  of  man's  alliance  with  the  sociable  animals, 
special  honour  being  paid  to  the  association,  in  succession,  of 
the  dog,  the  horse,  and  the  ox — the  three  types  round  which 
the  rest  may  be  grouped. 

During  the  second  week,  we  commemorate  the  irrevocable 
adoption  of  the  sedentary  state,  the  state,  that  is,  which  was 
indispensably  requisite  as  the  condition  of  all  ulterior  advance, 
intellectual  and  even  moral  advance,  quite  as  much  as  material. 
The  ceremony  of  the  Thursday  is  a  special  homage  to  Fire,  the 
institution  on  which  depended  primarily  our  progress  in  all  three 
respects ;  language  perpetuates  the  memory  of  its  introduction 
by  borrowing  from  it  the  words  which  in  ordinary  use  are  cha- " 
racteristic  of  existence  and  religion.  Foyer  and  Fete.  Then  on 
the  Sunday,  agricultural  life,  the  common  basis  of  industry  and 
of  commerce,  has  its  ideal  presentation,  greatest  stress  being 
laid  on  the  charm  of  its  earliest  spontaneous  beginnings,  its 
poetical  and  moral  attraction,  where  the  milieu  was  favourable 
to  a  prolongation  of  the  Fetichist  state. 

The  second  half  of  the  month  must  be  given  to  systematic 
Fetichism,  of  which  Astrolatry  is  the  characteristic,  and  the 
origin  of  which  is  in  the  sedentary  life,  for  that  gave  rise  to- 
the  priesthood  as  a  developement  of  the  earlier  institution,  the 
elders.  Though  this  period  was  naturally  less  durable  than 
its  predecessor,  its  commemoration  deserves  an  equal  space, 
owing  to  its  being  the  indispensable  source  of  Theologism, 
under  the  military  form  as  well  as  under  the  sacerdotal.  When 
it  glorifies  the  results  of  Astrolatry,  Sociolatry  will  not  fail  freely 
to  express  the  lasting  regret  due  to  the  violent  extinction  of  the 


Chap.  II.]  TH-E  "WOESHIP.  ■I2i7 

great,  if  primitive,  astrolatrical  societies  in  Malayia  and 
America.  The  third  Thursday  of  the  month  of  Fetichism 
will  prepare  the  way  for  the  commemoration  of  its  systematic 
form  by  a  festival  in  memory  of  the  worship  of  the  sun,  such  a  The  sun. 
festival  as  may  appeal  to  the  heart  in  favour  of  the  deep  rea- 
sonableness of  that  worship,  purely  instinctive  though  it  was. 
So  prepared,  the  ceremony  of  the  Sunday  will  be  the  abstract 
glorification  of  the  astrolatrical  state,  the  true  source  of  the 
polytheistic  Theocracy;  which  lasted  even  throughout  Mono- 
theism, down  to  the  rise  of  the  doctrine  of  the  earth's  move- 
ment, the  immediate  basis  of  Positivism.  This  first  historical  (2)  Military. 
month  closes  with  the  commemoration  of  military  Astrolatry, 
which,  when  it  found  a  milieu  suitable  to  it,  was  the  preliminary 
of  the  system  of  conquest  peculiar  to  Polytheism.  On  the  iron. 
Thursday  previous  to  its  commemoration,  a  special  festival  is 
allotted  to  the  introduction  of  iron,  the  large  use  of  which  was 
originally  for  military  purposes,  but  which  was  ultimately  des- 
tined to  play  the  leading  part  in  our  industrial  progress. 

All  the   main  aspects  of  its  preparatory  period  thus  re-  The  eighth 
cognised,  the  way  is  clear  for  the  commemoration  of  the  second 
childhood  of  the  race,  the   period  of  Polytheism   and  War ;   ,;>  ,j.^^^_ 
and  to  this  the  eighth  month  is  devoted;  setting  apart  the  '"^°^' 
fi.rst   Sunday  for  the  veneration   of  Theocracy,  to   which   we 
ascribe  the  most  decisive  influence  in  our  initiation.     The  pre- 
ceding Thursday  commemorates  more  particularly  the  institu- 
tion of  Caste,  the  general  basis  of  the  theocratic  system,  and  caste. 
destined,  notwithstanding    constant  modifications,  to  be   the 
essential  guarantee  of  order  until  the  advent  of  the  definitive 
Sociocracy.     The  caste  system  will  be  an  object  of  just  sym- 
pathy with  our  most  remote  posterity,  a  sympathy  finding  vent 
in  the  recognition  of  the  affinities  due  to  similarity  of  profes- 
sion, though  no  longer  needing  the  corroboration  of  hereditary 
transmission. 

Its   due  honour  paid  to  conservative  Polytheism,  in  the  ^u^i^p*f"*°: 
second  week,  we  begin,  on  the  Thursday,  the  commemoration  ti^^ism- 
of  intellectual  Polytheism,  with  the  festival  of  its  three  highest 
artistic  organs  :  Homer,  ^schylus,  and  Phidias.      From  this  ["I  -^s*''^- 
introduction  we  pass,  on  the  Sunday,  to  the   abstract  glorifica- 
tion of  its  whole  poetic  movement,  which,  breaking  the  yoke  of 
Theocracy,  then  become  retrograde,  worthily  inaugurated  the 
Western  transition,  not  without  a  presentiment,  even  at  that 
period,  of  Sociocracy.     As  a  preparation  for  the  celebration  of  $1  ^°'™*' 


'128     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF' MAN, 


(Ui)  Social 
or  Military 
Polytheism. 


The  ninth 
month. 


(i)  Theocra- 
tic or  Ju- 
daic. 


fii)  Catho- 
lic 


the,  strictly  intellectual  advance,'  the  following  Thursday  is  the 
festival  of  its  seven  principal  representatives ;  first  its  philoso- 
phical types  :  Thales,  Pythagoras,  and  Aristotle ;  then  its 
scientific:  Hippocrates,  Archimedes,  ApoUonius,  Hipparchus, 
The  Sunday  will  then  suffice  for  our  abstract  idealisation  of  the 
intellectual  construction,  which,  though  provisional  or  intro- 
ductory, was  yet  in  the  strictest  sense  decisive ;  for  the  genius 
of  the  West  made  it  the  inauguration  of  the  systematic  scien- 
tific creation,  needed  as  the  preamble  of  the  Religion  of  Hu- 
manity. But  on  the  morrow,  we  must  place  an  extraordinary 
festival  in  honour  of  the  battle  of  Salamis,  and  Themistocles  as 
its  personal  representative,  with  Alexander  to  complete  the  con- 
ception ;  thus  satisfying  the  full  claims  of  intellectual  Polytheism 
by  celebrating  the  struggle  which  it  could  not  avoid,  and  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  glorification  pf  social  Polytheism.  We 
enter  on  this,  the  following  Thursday,  with  the  festival  of  the 
three  great  types  of  the  military  society :  Scipio,  Caesar,  and 
Trajan,  worthy  to  be  the  precursors  of  Sociocracy  by  virtue  of 
the  high  value  they  set  upon  peace.  This  enables  us  to  con- 
sider the  last  Sunday  as  sufficient  for  the  abstract  commemora- 
tion of  the  Eoman  system  of  incorporation,  the  system  under 
which  the  noblest  of  our  ancestors  prepared  the  way  for  the 
direct  introduction  of  the  normal  order,  by  their  preference  of 
action  to  speculation,  of  public  to  private  life. 

The  proper  object  of  the  ninth  month  is  the  glorification  of 
the  adolescence  of  Humanity ; .  yet  it  must  begin  by  honouring 
the  peculiar  form  of  Monotheism  >vhich  arose  as  an  offshoot  of 
the  true  Theocracy ;  and  that  because  in  the  East  no  less  than 
in  the  West  it  has  been  intimately  connected  with  Monotheism 
in  its  typical  form.  As  a  preliminary  to  its  idealisatioUj  the 
first  Thursday  is  a  festival  in  honour  of  its  highest  types : 
Abraham,  Moses,  and  Solomon,  the  only  personal  representa- 
tives of  the  theocratic  state  in  the  imperfect  presentation  of  it 
couseqtient  on  the  monotheistic  alloy ;  for  their  noble  abnega- 
tion of  self  allows  no  pure  theocratic  types.  On  the  following 
Sunday,  the  worshippers  of  the  Great  Being  will,  to  the  end  of 
time,  recognise  with  sympathy  the  services  of  the  devoted  Jews, 
not  unprepared,  as  a  natural  result  of  their  dispersion,  for  the 
acceptance  of  the  religion  of  Humanity,  as  alone  able  to 
honour  and  raise  their  race,  by  making  reparation  for  the  stigmas 
fixed  on  it  by  ingratitude. 

For  the  adequate  idealisation  of  Monotheism  in  its  defen- 


Chap.  II.]  THE  "WORSHIP.  129 

sive  period,  the  entire  second  week  is  not  more  than  is  re- 
quired, the  six  days  of  concrete  festivals  being  allotted  to  its 
highest  individual  organs :  St.  Paul,  Charlemagne,  Alfred, 
Hildebrand,  Godfrey,  and  lastly  St.  Bernard,  its  most  perfect 
type.  This  last  festival  leads,  on  the  morrow,  to  an  exceptional 
one,  embodying  in  an  individual  type  the  systematic  glorifica-. 
tion  of  the  Middle  Ages,  without  detriment  to  its  abstract  cha- 
racter, by  concentrating  it  on  the  gentle  worship  which  was  the  The  virgin, 
condensed  expression  of  Catholicism  and  Chivalry,  Accustomed, 
as  a  result  of  their  whole  education,  to  venerate  the  Virgin  as 
the  spontaneous  emblem  of  Humanity,  the  servants  of  Humanity 
will,  by  this  concentration,  be  enabled  to  feel  more  deeply  the 
emotional  period  of  the  Western  transition. 

The  indispensable  preparation  of  the  universal  Eeligion,  if  &i)  Mo- 
honoured  duly,  requires  that  the  following  week  be  set  apart 
for  a  fitting  commemoration  of  Islamic  Monotheism,  the  only 
possible  precursor  of  Positivism  in  the  East.  The  Thursday 
therefore  is  the  festival  of  Mohammed,  the  incomparable 
founder  of  Islam ;  who  felt,  in  a  higher  degree  than  all  other 
reformers,  the  provisional  character  and  the  limited  adaptation 
of  the  religious  construction  by  which  he  trained  noble  nations 
for  the  final  state.  For  the  Sunday  is  appointed  the  abstract 
commemoration  of  Islam ;  the  setting  forth  the  intellectual  and 
moral  benefits  inherent  in  the  monotheistic  fusion  of  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  powers ;  benefits  not  lost  by  the  temporary 
delay  that  fusion  at  first  enforced  upon  the  Orientals.  To  com- 
plete the  picture  of  the  filiation,  an  extraordinary  festival  on  the 
Monday  commemorates  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  the  last  glorious 
efifort  of  the  military  instinct,  the  true  complement  of  Salamis. 
When  the  descendants  of  the  Mussulmans  and  the  descendants  Lepaato. 
of  the  Catholics  shall  be  united  by  the  Positive  religion,  it  is 
the  Mussulman,  rather  than  the  Catholic,  that  will  attach  most 
value  to  the  day  which  marked  the  close  of  his  military  career 
and  inaugurated  his  industrial  existence. 

Finally,  the  last  week  of  the  three  months  devoted  to  history  (iv)  Meta- 
,must  commemorate  the  Western  revolution  in  its  entirety :  the 
period,  that  is,  in  which  political  anarchy  contributed  to  the 
elaboration,  in  both  the  spiritual  and  temporal  order,  of  the 
immediate  elements  of  the  definitive  system.  To  admit  of  a 
satisfactory  abstract  idealisation,  on  the  Sunday,  of  the  move- 
ment, as  at  once  organic  and  critical,  the  first  requisite  is,  that 

VOL.  IV.  K 


physical. 


130      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


The  thirby- 
tliree  festi- 
vals of  the 
historical 
months. 


The  combi- 
nation of 
?6tichism 
aad  Posi- 

olYism. 


the  Thursday  be  devoted  to  the  most  complete  representative  of 
that  movement,  the  incomparable  Frederic.  But  this  capital 
commemoration,  in  which  we  have  a  foreshadowing  of  the  great 
crisis,  must  be  preceded  by  the  glorification  in  succession  of  the 
two  types  of  the  intellectual  movement  of  modern  times,  Dante 
and  Descartes. 

Such  is  the  ideal  presentation  in  Sociolatry,  as  each  year 
returns,  of  the  whole  initiation  of  the  race,  in  a   combined 
series  of  twenty-one  concrete,  and   twelve  abstract,  festivals, 
dming  the  three   historical  months.      The  vast  picture,  the 
artistic  expression  of  the  third  volume  of  this  work,  will  be  at 
all  times  quite  within  the  comprehension  of  all  who  have  duly 
undergone  the  encyclopedic  instruction,  and   listened   conse- 
quently to  the  exposition  of  the  philosophy  of  history.     The 
inevitable  inequality  of  the  division  of  the  thirty-three  dy- 
namical festivals  between  the  several  phases  of  the  past  on 
which  we  rest,  is  no  element  of  discordance,  where  the  con- 
spectus is  one  in  which  the  room  given  to  each  phase  depends 
not   on   the   length   of  its    duration,  but  on   the   amount  of 
movement.     Thus,  although  the  glorification  of  the  theocratic 
period  is  limited  to  two  festivals,  the  very  condensation  is  a 
new  homage  to  the  profound  stability  of  the  only  complete 
order  attainable  during  the  whole  earlier  life  of  the  race.    So, 
too,  when  we  limit  to  two  festivals  the  idealisation  of  Eome, 
we  do  but  give  relief  to  the  admirable  homogeneity  which  is 
stamped  on  the  most  decisive  of  the  three  phases  of  the  "Western 
transition.     Prior   to   the  universal  adoption  of  the  Positive 
worship  and  the  Positive  education,  the  system  of  festivals  here 
given  will  be  sufficient  to  make  ready  for  the  Religion  of  Hu- 
manity all  who  assist  at  them,  as  weU  as  the  young  children 
of  true  believers.     Nay,  its  power  in  this  respect  will  naturally 
manifest  itself  so  soon  as  Sociolatry  shall  be  inaugurated  in 
Paris,  for  thither  as  to  the  world's  capital  will  come  from  all 
parts  all  who  thirst  after  religious  culture,  so  to  secure  expansion, 
deliberately,  for  their  instinct  of  continuity. 

Examine  the  conspectus,  and  we  find  the  definitive  com- 
bination of  Fetichism  and  Positivism  solemnly  ratified.  For 
the  infancy  of  mankind  has  as  many  festivals  as  the  whole  of 
its  childhood,  though  Fetichism  could  leave  no  individual 
name  connected  with  it.  Its  concrete  festivals  have  a  cha- 
racter, from  the  dogmatical  not  less  than  the  historical  point 


Chap.  II.]  THE  -WOESHIP.  131 

of  view,  adapted  to  show  how  entirely  the  primeval  adoration 
of  the  external  world  was  in  instinctive  conformity  with  the 
ultimate  tendencies  of  Humanity. 

I  have  now  to  explain  in  what  way  the  public  worship,  ^^'^^on^iig 
having  honoured  the  fundamental  nature  of  the  Great  Being, 
and  exalted  its  indispensable  initiation,  idealises  its  providence 
in  its  normal  form  during  the  last  third  of  the  Positivist  year. 
As  in  the  first  half,  so  here  again,  all  the  festivals,  even  the 
subordinate  ones,  have  in  the  main  a  statical  character,  the 
dynamical  being  limited  to  the  intermediate  three  months. 
Throughout  the  whole,  however,  there  is  an  element  of  his- 
torical feeling  mingling  with  the  dogmatic  idealisation,  so  as 
never  to  leave  us  without  a  sense  of  the  series  of  preparatory 
efforts  required  for  the  establishment  of  each  social  bond,  and 
for  the  continuous  advance  towards  perfection  of  each  function 
of  society. 

The  tenth  month  exalts  the  moral  providence  of  the  Great  Thetentii 

^  month. 

Being;,  naturally  entrusted  to  the  affective  sex.     In  this  month  women,  the 

o'  ■'  moral  Provi- 

all  the  conceptions  imparted  by  our  education  as  to  the  para^  <5™<==- 
mount  impiirtance  of  feeling  find  their  legitimate  ideal  ex- 
pression. At  the  same  time,  the  public  worship  gives  a  direct 
sanction  to  the  system  of  private  worship,  which  supplies  its 
indispensable  basis.  For  each  true  believer  can  in  the  public 
worship  make  special  application  to  the  divinities  of  his  home 
of  the  abstract  and  general  worship  of  woman,  in  her  fourfold 
capacity  of  mother,  wife,  daughter,  and  sister,  as  honoured  in 
succession  on  the  four  Sundays  of  this  month.  No  subsidiary 
festival  is  required  ;  so  rational  is  the  worship,  that  it  is  suflB.- 
cient  to  revive  in  the  minds  of  all  a  deep  sense  of  the  ever- 
increasing  benefits  due  to  the  sex;  in  which  affection  pre- 
dominates, and  of  the  unremitting  duties  which  this  estimate 
imposes  upon  man.  The  function  of  women  is  fortunately  so 
homogeneous,  that  every  true  woman  will  be  sufficiently 
honoured  by  the  honour  paid  to  her  sex  collectively,  whilst  to 
men  are  left  the  persona)  distinctions  required  by  their  moral 
imperfection.  Still,  there  will  be  no  objection,  the  normal 
state  once  fully  established,  to  the  clergy  devoting  the  Thursdays 
of  this  month  to  types  of  women  of  acknowledged  eminence,  . 
not  merely  of  local,  but  even  of  universal  eminence,  and  that 
without  having  recourse  to  the  exceptional  cases  originating  in 
public  life. 


132       SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTTJEE  OP  MAN. 


The  eleventh 
month. 
Tho  Priest- 
hood. The 
iutellectiial 
Providence, 
(i)  Incom- 
plete. 


(ii)  Prepa- 
ratory. 
The  Aspir- 
ant. 


Festivals  of 
Art  and 
Science. 


(iii)  Delijii- 
tive. 

(a)  Second- 
ary.   The 
Vicar. 


(6)  The 
Priest. 


The  twelfth 
month. 
The  Patri- 
ciate.   The 
Material 
Providence, 
(i)  Bank. 


In  the  eleventh  month,  set  apart  for  the  intellectual  Provi- 
dence of  Humanity,  we  begin  its  glorification  from  the  lowest 
stage ;  we  begin,  that  is,  by  honouring  it  in  its  incomplete 
form,  as  it  is  seen  in  the  man  of  science  or  the  artist,  dis- 
qualified for  the  priesthood  by  their  deficiency  in  tenderness 
or  energy.  Such  cases,  hitherto  the  rule,  will  become,  it  is 
true,  in  Sociocracy  as  exceptional,  or  even  more  exceptional, 
than  under  the  Theocracy  ;  still,  at  all  times  they  will  be  fre- 
quent enough  to  deserve  a  separate  consecration,  one  honouring 
them,  but  marking  at  the  same  time  their  imperfection.  This 
homage  to  the  pensioners  of  the  priesthood  is  paid  on  the  first 
Sunday  ;  on  the  second,  a  public  recognition  will  do  honour  to 
the  preparatory  degree,  by  which  the  theorician,  whose  sacer- 
dotal vocation  has  been  recognised,  aspires  to  membership  in 
the  Positive  clergy. 

"With  regard  to  these  two  preliminary  modes,  it  will  he 
well,  as  a  compensation  for  the  discredit  attaching  to  their 
imperfection,  to  institute  on  the  two  first  Thursdays  in  the 
month  two  accessory  festivals,  one  in  honour  of  art,  the  second 
in  honour  of  science. 

The  third  week  introduces  us  to  the  priesthood  in  its 
definitive  form,  when  we  honour  its  secondary  degree,  the 
Vicariate,  in  which  the  clerk  shares  in  the  intellectual  func- 
tions— teaching  and  preaching — but  is  not  admitted  as  yet  to 
the  social  functions  of  consecration  or  consultation.  Vicars 
are,  as  such,  irrevocably  members  of  the  priesthood;  but  there 
is  an  indistinctness  of  character  attaching  to  them,  which 
makes  any  additional  festival  unnecessary,  allowing  for  indi- 
vidual distinctions  possibly  called  for  by  the  developement  of 
the  universal  religion.  So  ushered  in,  the  direct  glorification 
of  the  full  Priesthood  occupies  the  last  Sunday  of  the  month, 
the  inherent  homogeneity  of  the  priestly  functions  rendering 
unnecessary  any  distinctions  between  the  priests,  even  as  re- 
gards the  High  Priesthood.  Only  on  the  preceding  Thursday, 
there  should  be  a  festival  in  special  honour  of  Old  Men,  the 
natural  precursors,  and  ultimately  the  regular  assistants  of  the 
priesthood. 

During  the  twelfth  month  in  the  Sociolatrical  system,  we 
honour  the  Patriciate  in  its  four  general  divisions  as  the  organ 
of  the  material  providence  of  Humanity.  These  festivals,  as 
a  whole,  ought  to  give  artistic  expression  to  the  feelings  of 


Chap.  II.]  THE  "WOESHIP.  133 


veneration  and  of  devotion,  of  veneration  in  the  inferiors,  (ii)  com. 
devotion  in  the  superiors ;  the  feelings  cultivated  in  each  re-  (lii)  Manu- 
spectively  by  education  and  by  action.  The  constituents  of  (iv)"!^-!- 
the  temporal  power  are  ranked  on  the  principle  of  decreasing  "  ™ ' 
generality,  and  increasing  independence ;  and  the  worship  will 
assert  the  higher  dignity  of  the  banking  element,  which,  as  the 
great  condenser  of  wealth,  is  at  once  less  easy  to  understand  aright, 
and  more  exposed  to  envy.  With  the  exception  of  this  highest 
Patriciate,  from  which  is  drawn  the  governing  Triumvirate, 
each  of  the  three  essential  classes,  by  virtue  of  the  difference 
of  their  functions,  admits  of  distinctions  which  would  seem  to 
justify  subordinate  festivals  in  numbers  sufficient  to  occupy  all 
the  days  of  each  week.  But  not  to  mention  the  industrial 
inconveniences  of  such  increase,  it  would  not  be  without  moral 
danger,  as  giving  scope  for  rivalries  amongst  the  superiors, 
an  evil  ever  at  the  door ;  and  as  occasioning  amongst  the 
inferiors  contentions  at  variance  with  the  homogeneous  cha-  - 
racter  of  the  proletariate.  The  additional  festivals  apparently 
required  for  the  due  honour  of  commerce,  manufactures,  and, 
above  all,  of  agriculture,  may  find  satisfactory  substitutes 
in  the  solemn  processions  which  will  close  the  weekly  cere- 
monies. When  some  considerable  time  has  elapsed  after  the 
establishment  of  the  normal  state,  the  Thursdays  may  be  set 
apart  for  the  public  commemoration  of  the  types  which  deserve 
an  individual  honour,  such  distinction  being  most  commonly 
national,  now  and  then,  however,  recognised  throughout  the 
world. 

There  is,  however,  a  distinct  festival  required,  if  we  study  the  ^^^^^^J^  ^j 
patrician  month  as  awhole ;  afestivalin  honour  of  the  protectorate  p^j™™^'J- 
voluntarily  assumed  by  the  nobler  industrial  chiefs,  under  a  tte  Knights. 
special  vow,  either  at  the  opening  of  their  industrial  career  or 
after  its  close.     As  their  prototypes  the  Knights  of  military 
chivalry,  these  Knights  of  industrial  chivalry  have  for  their  func- 
tion the  prevention  or  the  remedying  of  the  oppression  to  which 
poverty  is  always  exposed  in  women,  priests,  and  proletaries,  and 
they  collectively  deserve  honour,  an  honour  quite  unconnected 
with  their  industrial  capacity.   Fixed  for  the  first  Thursday  of  the 
month,  the  festival  of  the  Knights  is  an  assertion  of  the  general 
obligation  on  the  strong  to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of 
the  weak,  and  the  more  special  tendency  inherent  in  the  highest 
class  of  patricians  to  recognise  this  as  the  legitimate  function 


134      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


The  thir- 

teenth 

month. 

The  Prole- 

tariats. 

The  general 

Providence. 


(i)  Complete 
form  or 
active  Prole- 
tariate, 


festival  of 
Inventors. 


of  great  wealth,  a  function  which  cannot  but  render  its  con- 
centration more  easy  to  justify. 

The  final  step  in  the  ideal  presentation  of  the  general 
Sociocratic  constitution  is  the  devoting  the  last  month  of  the 
Positivist  year  to  the  honour  of  the  Proletariate,  the  body  in 
which  we  see,  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the  homogeneous 
and  complementary  organ  of  Human  providence.  Its  natural 
tendency  to  exercise  a  constant  control  over  the  more  special 
powers  will  be  so  drawn  out  by  the  identity  of  education,  that 
varieties  of  industrial  employment,  a  consideration  of  minor 
importance  yet  to  be  taken  into  account,  will  never  be  able  to 
impair  its  unity.  The  distinction  between  the  four  festivals 
of  the  month  depends  not  on  difference  of  occupations,  but  on 
the  mode  or  degree  in  which  the  character  of  the  class  is 
represented. 

Hence  the  first  Sunday  honours  the  Proletariate  in  its 
complete  form,  the  form  in  which  industrial  activity  is  found 
in  natural  conjunction,  not  merely  with  the  moral  developement 
of  the  citizen  or  the  head  of  the  family,  but  with  the  culture 
of  the  intellect, — its  scientific,  and  even  its  esthetic  culture. 
This,  the  leading  ceremony  of  the  month,  to  stand  in  its  true 
light,  requires,  on  the  preceding  Thursday,  an  introductory 
festival  in  honour  of  Discoverers  and  Inventors  in  general; 
Grutenberg,  Columbus,  Vaucanson,  Watt,  and  Montgolfier, 
being  taken  as  special  types — types  sufficiently  diversified  to 
represent  the  class.  In  taking  them  all  from  the  first  stage 
of  existence  of  the  Great  Being,  we  imply  that  the  second 
stage  admits  of  no  such  personal  distinctions.  This  second 
life  has  to  regulate — this  is  its  great  task — the  powers  which 
the  first  threw  up ;  and  therefore  it  is  the  social  function 
of  the  Proletariate,  rather  than  its  industrial  service,  to  which 
attention  must  be  given  ;  not  but  that  there  will  be  a  continuous 
advance  in  this  latter,  though  less  and  less  importance  will 
attach  to  such  advance.  The  aspirations  of  the  proletaries 
after  personal  distinction  will '  for  the  most  part  have  their 
source  in  public  life,  depending  on  their  right  interference  as 
indispensable  auxiliaries  and  legitimate  controllers  of  the  two 
special  powers.  The  preparatory  festival  must  however  make 
it  clear  that  it  is  as  proletaries  that  the  discoverers  are  honoured, 
even  when  they  seem  to  be  of  the  Patriciate.  It  is  indeed  of 
real  importance  that  when  in  the  worship  we  give  the  regime 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WOESHIP.  135 

its  ideal  expression,  we  make  administrative  capacity  the 
characteristic  of  the  patricians,  whilst  we  represent  industrial 
discoveries  as  reserved  for  the  plebeians,  recognising  at  the 
same  time  the  diminishing  importance  in  the  regime  of  such 
discoveries. 

To  complete  the  public  commemoration  of  the  Proletariate  (U)  The  at- 

■      fecfcive  Pro- 

in  its  completest  form,  the  second  Sunday  of  the  popular  letariate. 
month  must  be  set  apart  for  the  honour  of  the  proletary 
women.  In  Positive  society  all  women  will  become  strictly 
proletaries,  as  voluntarily  renouncing  all  inheritance  ;  still  the 
holy  uniformity  of  their  great  fundamental  function  will  leave 
room  for  the  modifications  due  to  position.  Again,  notwith- 
standing the  identity  of  education,  so  adapted  is  the  situation 
of  the  Proletariate  to  develope  the  leading  attributes  of  women 
as  to  call  for  this  special  festival  which,  at  a  later  period,  may 
be  prefaced  by  a  commemoration  of  individual  types. 

On  the  third  Sunday,  we  enter  on  the  commemoration  of  (m)  The 

•^  contempla- 

, the  Proletariate  in  its  less  complete  form,  as  we  then  honour  tiveProie- 
the  dutiful  acceptance  of  their  existence  as  plebeians  by  those 
members  of  the  class  in  whom  the  industrial  function  suffers 
from  tendencies  to  intellectual  action  which  find  but  imperfect 
scope.  It  is  true  that  the  Priesthood  even  more  than  the 
Patriciate  must  be  recruited  mainly  from  the  Proletariate,  still 
its  necessarily  limited  numbers  will  not  allow,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  full  satisfaction  of  the  aspirations  aroused  by  the  edu- 
cation. Whilst  kept  in  due  subordination  to  practical  duties, 
such  aspirations  give  rise  in  the  body  of  the  people  to  an 
unfortunate  but  honourable  class,  a  class  which,  over  and  above 
the  honour  paid  to  it  collectively,  may  admit  of  personal  dis- 
tinctions, by  contributing  to  perfect  the  social  action  of  the 
Proletariate. 

Carry  out  to  the  full  the  above  case,  and  we  are  led  to  end  (iv)  The 
the  thirteenth  month  by  honouring  the  life  of  the  proletary  letariate. 
when  it  takes  an  essentially  passive  character.     This  modifica- 
tion may  be  due  either  to  the  predominance   in   excess   of 
intellectual    aspirations,   or    to   a    situation    adverse    to   the 
developement  of  the  particular  talent  of  the  individual.      On 
the  one  or  the  other  ground  equally,  Mendicity,  even  when  it  is  Mendicity. 
the  life  of  the  individual,  deserves  a   distinct .  festival  in  a 
worship  which  claims  to  idealise  all  actual  forms  of  life,  and 
which  therefore  may  not  neglect  an  inevitable  result  of  the 


136     SYSTEM  0F  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Walter 
Scott. 


Tbe  Thurs- 
day before. 
St.  Francis 
of  Assisi. 


.  Festival  of 
All  tbe  Dead. 


sum  of  imperfections  to  which  Humanity  is  liable.  In  the 
Middle  Ages,  Mendicity  received  its  due  tribute  of  honour,  for 
the  Priesthood,  in  its  wisdom,  knew  how  to  ratify  the  instinctive 
verdict  of  mankind ;  a  fortiori  must  it  receive  it  in  Sociolatry, 
as  a  more  sympathetic  and  more  truly  synthetical  system.  The 
anarchical  repugnance  to  accept  this  conclusion  shown  by  meta- 
physical empiricism,  is  but  an  evidence  of  an  erroneous  estimate 
of  the  social  function  of  the  Proletariate.  Separate  the  function 
of  the  citizen  from  that  of  the  artisan,  and  we  shall  at  once 
feel  that,  in  spite  of  their  coexistence  as  a  rule,  the  first  may 
deserve  honour  when  the  second  is  entirely  in  abeyance.  Nay, 
we  may  consider  this  festival  as  already  initiated  by  the 
admirable  idealisation  which  is  the  salient  feature  in  one  of  the 
numerous  masterpieces  of  the  greatest  poetical  genius  of  this 
exceptional  century. 

Nor  are  we  limited  to  this  anticipation  of  a  poet's  instinct, 
the  more  conclusive,  it  must  be  allowed,  as  originating  in  a 
milieu  of  industrial  egoism  and  Protestantism,  for  the  past 
offers  us  a  direct  and  collective  type  of  Mendicity  in  the 
remarkable  institution  of  the  Mendicant  orders.  The  admirable 
founder  of  that  institution  must  have  a  special  glorification,  on 
the  Thursday  before  the  abstract  commemoration  of  the  passive 
element  of  the  Proletariate — the  complementary  element  of 
which  he  will  ever  be  the  patron  Saint,  as  the  characteristic 
representative,  under  the  form  adapted  to  the  thirteenth  century, 
of  its  social  action.  From  the  historical  point  of  view,  this 
festival  gives  us  indirectly  an  opportunity  of  honouring  as  it 
deserves— and  it  is  the  only  one  which  throughout  was  honour- 
able —  the  effort  to  arrest  the  irrevocable  decay  of  Cathoh- 
cism,  an  effort  however  destined,  such  were  the  conditions,  to 
failure. 

The  Positivist  year  ends  with  consecrating  its  comple- 
mentary day  to  all  the  dead,  the  rulers  of  the  living  with  an 
indispensable  and  inevitable  sway.  This  concluding  festival 
recalls  the  similar  institution  of  Catholicism,  and  in  doing  so 
evidences  the  superiority  of  the  Positivist  systematisation  as 
alone  able  to  make  the  commemoration  completely  universal  in 
its  comprehension.  Connected  by  feeling  with  the  ceremony  of 
the  eve,  it  forms  a  natural  introduction  to  the  festival  beyond 
compare,  which  on  the  morrow  must  open  the  new  year  by  the 
direct  idealisation  of  the  love  of  Humanity. 


Worship. 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  137 

Finally,  the  system  of  Sociolatry  fills  up  its  last  void,  by  F^fi^ro^' 
placing  at  the  end  of  each  bissextile  year  a  festival  in  honour  ^eif^°" 
collectively  of  the  women  who  have  as  individuals  attained 
holiness.  The  affective  sex,  it  is  true,  neither  allows  nor 
requires  individual  distinctions,  save  such  as  arise  from  its 
efficient  discharge  of  its  domestic  duty,  yet  the  tendency  of  the 
encyclopaedic  education  is  to  increase  the  number  of  exceptions 
even  in  the  sphere  of  action,  still  more  in  that  of  thought. 
There  would  be  incompleteness,  then,  in  the  public  worship  of 
Humanity,  did  it  not  remind  us,  by  a  supplementary  festival 
every  four  years,  of  her  highest  representatives,  some  of  whom 
will  attain  an  individual  glorification. 

Such  are  the  eighty-one  solemn  festivals,  secondary  or  The  eighty- 
principal,  which  constitute  the  worship  annually  paid  to  the  vais.  Their 
Great  Being  by  its  servants  assembled  in  its  temples.  Well  the  private 
calculated  to  compensate  th^  effort  of  abstraction  required  in 
the  direct  worship  of  Humanity,  such  public  assemblies  cannot 
but  increase  the  moral  effect  of  the  worship  by  kindling  the 
natural  sympathies  of  the  worshippers,  each  looking  on  the  body 
of  his  fellow-worshippers  as  representing  the  supreme  existence. 
The  influence,  however,  of  such  collective  worship  would  be  but 
weak,  appealing  rather  to  our  sense  of  beauty  than  to  our 
affections,  were  there  not  the  habit  of  solitary  private  prayer. 
Not  to  dwell  on  the  fact  that  the  personal  worship  is  by  its  natiure 
the  basis  of  the  two  others,  it  alone  is  in  the  fullest  sense  free — 
a  circumstance  which  must  largely  increase  its  natural  power. 
Although  the  Priesthood  may  dissuade  the  Patriciate  from 
compelling,  in  any  degree,  attendance  on  religious  worship,  it 
cannot  prevent  public  opinion  from  blaming  those  who  abstain 
from  the  social  sacraments  or  the  public  festivals.  "We  must 
not  then,  in  the  splendour  of  these  last,  lose  the  sense  of  the 
superior  value  of  daily  prayer,  in  which  each  believer  becomes 
his  own  priest,  and  labours  in  freedom  for  his  own  moral 
improvement,  through  the  veneration  he  pays  in  secret  to  the 
representatives  of  the  Great  Being  within  his  family  circle. 
Conversely,  however,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact,  that  it  is 
only  by  regular  participation  in  the  collective  services  that  we 
can  secure  our  private  worship  against  a  danger  to  which  dt  is 
exposed,  of  evoking  tendencies  to  mysticism,  and  even  selfishness, 
tendencies  which  would  direct  to  the  part  the  worship  due  to 
the  whole. 


138     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

To  facilitate  the  comprehension  of  the  general  arrangement 
of  the  public  worship,  I  have  given  it  in  a  summary  form  in  the 
subjoined  table  (Table  A),  -where  the  words  in  italics  and  in 
parentheses  indicate  the   subordinate  festivals.     This  series  of 
solemnities  honouring  every  aspect  of  human  life,  cannot  but 
have  a  powerful  attraction  for  minds  capable  of  grasping  the 
conception  in  its  fullness.      The  test,  however,  of  their  having 
had  a  deep  moral  effect,  will  be  if  each  leaves  on  those  who 
have  assisted  at  it  a  feeling  of  regret  that  a  year  must  pass 
before   it  returns,  rather  than  a  desire  for  the  next  in  order, 
from  a  craving  for  fresh  artistic  emotions, 
ttfe^rtistic'^         In  completion  of  the  exposition  of  Sociolatry  two  subsidiary 
adjuncts.       explanations  must  be  placed  here;    their  earlier  introduction 
would    have    been    an  interruption.      The   iirst  concerns  the 
edifices  devoted  to  the  Positive  worship ;  the  second  the  artistic 
aids  it  requires. 
of'Hraian-^^         In  the    '  Grcneral  View,'  the  symbolical  representation  of 
'*y-  Humanity   by  sculpture   and   by  painting  is   adequately  set 

forth.  Its  architectural  expression  it  is  not  possible  at  present 
to  determine  with  equal  clearness,  be  it  because  of  the  slower 
growth  of  the  architectural  conceptions  proper,  or  that  they 
depend  on  a  much  larger  cooperation  for  their  execution. 
Positivism  is  so  real,  and  the  times  are  so  ripe  for  it,  that 
suitable  temples  will  rise  more  quickly  than  did  the  churches 
of  Catholicism,  for  Catholicism  was  in  open  opposition  with  the 
world  it  came  to  modify.  Still  at  the  outset,  the  worship  of 
Humanity  in  the  West  must  be  carried  on  in  the  buildings 
consecrated  to  the  public  worship  of  her  immediate  predecessor. 
They  will  be  more  easily  adapted  to  Sociolatry  than  the 
temples  of  Polytheism  could  be  to  Monotheism.  For  the 
instruction  and  preaching  introduced  by  Monotheism  required 
a  different  form  of  building  from  that  which  sufficed  for  the 
earlier  ceremonies,  which  were  mainly  in  the  open  air.  Posi- 
tivism, then,  need  not  introduce  such  sweeping  changes  in 
religious  architecture  as  Catliolicism  was  obliged  to  do ;  still  its 
festivals,  from  their  referring  to  the  external  world  as  well  as  to 
the  world  of  man,  will  require  alterations  not  to  be  specified  at 
present. 
Situation  o£  Yet  ouc  TDoiut  I  mav  even  now  determine,  the  regular  posi- 

tion,  viz.,  of  the    Positivist  temple — nay,    even  the   general 
features   of  its  internal  arrangements — both  the  one  and  the 


the  Temples. 


Chap.  II.]  THE  WORSHIP.  139 

other  being  implied  in  the  nature  and  object  of  the  worship  of 
Humanity.  As  it  is  the  dead  who  deserve  to  live  that  ai'e  the 
chief  constituents  of  the  Great  Being,  so  its  public  worship 
must  be  performed  in  the  midst  of  the  tombs  of  the  more 
eminent  dead,  each  tomb  surrounded  by  a  consecrated  grove, 
the  scene  of  the  homage  paid  by  their  family  and  their  fellow- 
citizens.  In  the  second  place,  the  universal  religion  will  adopt 
and  extend  one  of  the  best  inspifetions  of  Islam ;  it  will  direct 
the  long  axis  of  the  temple  and  the  sacred  wood  towards  the 
metropolis  of  the  race,  which,  as  the  result  of  the  whole  past,  is, 
for  a  long  time,  fixed  at  Paris.  This  touching  convergence,  a 
convergence  which  the  Kebla  of  the  Mussulman  applies  to  all 
the  attitudes  of  worship  and  to  the  body  after  death,  will 
naturally  be  similarly  extended  in  the  only  worship  which 
admits  of  entire  unanimity.  Later  in  origin  and  more  social  in 
character  than  the  faith  of  the  West,  the  Eastern  faith  was 
naturally  a  better  manifestation  of  the  direct  aspirations  after 
true  universality. 

As  for  the  internal  arrangement  of  the  temples  of  Posi-  Jh^Tem°fs 
tivism,  two  directions  only  can  be  given  at  present.  In  the  first 
place,  the  choir,  where  stands  the  pulpit  with  the  statue  of 
Humanity  over  it,  must  be  able  to  hold  a  seventh  of  the 
audience,  in  order  that  the  interpreter  of  the  Great  Being  may 
be  surrounded  by  the  eminent  women  who  are  its  best  repre- 
sentatives. Secondly,  each  of  the  seven  side  chapels  will 
contain  the  bust  of  one  of  the  thirteen  principal  organs  of  the 
education  of  the  race,  in  the  midst  of  the  busts  of  his  four 
greatest  subordinates,  the  fourteenth  chapel  being  reserved  for 
the  group  of  representative  women. 

The  foregoing  exposition  shows  the  boundless  field  opened  by  Artistic 
the  Positive  worship  to  art,  not  merely  to  the  fundamental  art, 
poetiy,  but  to  the  subsidiary  arts  of  sound  and  form.  So 
extensive  is  the  field,  that  at  first  sight  it  would  seem  to  require 
a  special  class ;  the  objection  is,  that  such  a  class,  however 
subordinate,  would  trench  on  the  dignity  of  the  Priesthood, 
and  might  compromise  its  unity.  But  if  we  emancipate 
ourselves  from  the  peculiar  habits  of  the  "West,  we  shall  be  led 
to  acknowledge  that  all  the  needs  of  Sociolatry  may  be  met, 
without  devoting  any  one  to  the  exclusive  and  constant 
exercise  of  the  faculties  of  expression ;  for  when  made  para- 
moimt   they  are   no  less    degrading   to   the    individual   than 


140     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN, 


The  chapter 
justifies  the 
postpone- 
ment of  the 
doctrine. 


But  the 
■worship 
must  be 
supported  by 
the  doctrine 
and  regime. 


pernicious  to  society.  For  the  Priesthood  may  produce  all  the 
compositions,  poetical,  musical,  or  even  plastic,  required  for  the 
worship,  by  granting  partial  and  temporary  dispensations  to 
the  priests  qualified  for  the  particular  work  required,  just  as 
in  the  case  of  scientific  labours.  As  for  the  social  execution  of 
the  dramatic  or  musical  portions  of  the  public  festivals,  the 
completeness  in  point  of  art  of  the  common  education  will  so 
qualify  every  believer  to  take  his  part  in  it,  that  the  concert  of 
all  the  worshippers  will  ensure  an  effectual  expression  of  the 
emotions  beyond  what  was  attainable  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

This  chapter,  viewed  as  a  whole,  ratifies,  as  a  natural  result, 
the  systematic  anticipations  of  the  introduction  as  to  the 
definitive  arrangement  of  the  three  constituent  parts  of  Positive 
religion.  We  can  now  see  that  the  preeminence  of  the  worship 
over  the  doctrine  is  completely  in  conformity  with  the  nature 
of  Positivism,  and  secures  its  attainment  of  its  objects. 
Throughout  the  exposition  here  ended,  there  has  been  no  want 
felt  of  the  analytical  order  which  we  must  adopt  in  the  next 
chapter,  in  examining  the  doctrinal  basis  of  the  system,  the 
synthetic  conception  of  which  sufSces  in  Sociolatry. 

"Were  it  not  that  Humanity  is  so  situated,  physically,  as  to 
require  the  constant  exertion  of  intelligence  and  activity,  the 
direct  cultivation,  in  the  worship,  of  our  altruistic  instincts 
would  enable  them  to  triumph  over  the  egoistic,  in  spite  of 
the  greater  inherent  strength  of  the  latter.  But  the  worship 
which  was  enough,  while  the  second  stage  of  human  existence 
had  not  as  yet  called  into  activity  our  intellectual  and  practical 
powers,  needs  in  our  maturer  period  the  aid  of  the  doctrine  and 
regime,  to  protect  our  moral  nature  against  the  disturbing 
influences  attendant  on  our  advance  in  thought  and  action. 
Hence  the  necessity  that  now  lies  upon  me  to  explain  how,  on 
the  basis  of  the  ideal  presented  by  Sociolatry,  sociological 
thought  and  sociocratic  action  ultimately  harmonise,  in  the 
service  of  our  moral  advance,  these  irremovable  conditions,  by 
stamping  a  collective  character  on  an  evolution  which  in  its 
earliest  stages  was  individual. 


■J-'-A-t^J-lJU       -A.. 


CONSPECTUS   OF    SOCIOLATEY, 


OK 


SOCIAL    WOESHIP. 


Love  as  the  Principle ;  Order  fis  the  Basis ;     I     Live  for  Others.     (The  Eamily,  Country, 
Progress  as  the  End.  |  Humanity.) 

Embracing  in  a  series  of  Eighty-one  Annual  Festivals  the  "Worship  of  Humanity  under 

all  its  aspects. 


("ni-w  Tpar'<!  Dav  i  Synthetical  Festival  oJ 
,  JXew  x  ear  s  JJay  ^     ^^^  ^^j,  -g^^^g_ 


^'hUMAOTTY  -^Weekly  Festivals 

[_    Union 

["complete. 
2nd  Month, —  J  chaste. 

MAEBIAGE    1  unequal. 

\  subjective. 


religious, 
historical, 
national, 
municipal. 


3rd  Month.— 

The  PATERNAL    RELA- 
TION  

4th  Month.— 


complete 


incomplete 


The  FILIAL   EELATION  {  ^"'"^  ^^^^"^■«'''«'- 
5tli  Month.—  f 

Thf!  FRATEKNAL  RELA-  ]  Same  subdivisions, 
TION i 


f  natural. 
'  t  artificial. 

f  spiritnal. 
'  t  temporal. 


6tli  Month.—  (  «p-™anent 

THE  RELA  TION  OF  MAS-  \  P-^^^anent 
TEJl  AND  SERVANT. 

flth  Month.— 

FETICHISM    


I  spontaneous  . . . 

(systematic 

/-conserrativQ . . .  < 


8th  Month.— 
POLYTHEISM 


f  complete. 
( incomplete, 

[  temporary Same  stibdivUion, 

f  nomad,    (Festival  of  ihe  Animals.') 

\  sedentary (Festival  of  Fire.) 

{ sacerdotal {Festival  of  ihe  Sun,) 

1  military (Festival  of  Iron.) 

(Festival  of  Castes.) 

/"esthetic (Flomer,  j^schyluSf  Phidias.) 

intPllectual    (Sa.\  .       f C^*"^^*'    Pythagoras,   Aris- 

7  i- ^        ^*"N  scientific   and  philo-J     totle,  Hippocrates,  Archi- 

^'^^^J sophic 1     medes,    ApoUonius,   mp- 

\  \     paixhus.) 

social (Scipio,  Caesar,  Trajan.) 

rtheocratic {Abraham.,  Moses,  Solomon,) 

n.St.  Paul.) 
I  (Charlemagne.) 
,,    ,.  1  (Alfred.) 

|<^^*^°1^^ i  (ffildebmnd.) 

i  ;  (Godfrey  of  Bouillon,) 

I  l^iSt.  Bernard.) 

Mahometan  (Lepanto)  (Mahomet.) 

{ (Dante.) 

metaphysical    \  (Descartes.) 

L.  i  (Frederic  II.) 

(mother, 
wife, 
daughter, 
sister. 

/incomplete   (Festival  of  Art.) 

preparatory (Festival  of  Science.) 

nc  r±tiJiOJ.iiuujL/ y     ^  *'  f  secondary 

Intellectual  Providence,     (definitive   j  principal   (Festival  of  Old  Men.) 

fbankine (Festival  of  ihe  Knights.) 
commerce, 
manufactures, 
agriculture. 
r  ((Festival  of  Inventors:  Gu- 

1  active i     tevherg,   Columbus,    Vav- 

[     canson,  Watt,  Montgolfier.) 
affective. 


9th  Month.— 
MONOTHEISM  . 


10th  Month.— 

WOMEN    

-Moral  Providence. 

11th  Month.— 
The  PRIESTHOOD 


12th  Month.— 
The  PATRICIATE  .. 
Material  Providence. 


13th  Month.—  i 

The  PROLETARIATE ....-( 


General  Providence. 


contemplative. 


passive (St.  Francis  of  Assisi.) 

COMPLEMENTARY  DAY Festival  of  All  the  Dead. 

The  additional  Day  in  LEAP  YEARS  General  Festival  of  Holy  "Womek. 

Paris,  Saturday,  7  Archimedes,  GG  (1  April,  1854). 

AuGVSTE  CoMTE  (10  Rue  Monsieur-le-Prince.) 


142     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


CHAPTER   III. 

GENBHAL   VIEW    OF   THE    INTELLECTUAL  EXISTENCE    OF  MAN,  EESTINft 
ON   THE   RELATIVE   CONCEPTION   OF   THE    ORDER   OF   THE   WORLD; 

OR, 
DEFINITIVE    SYSTEMATISATION    OF   THE   POSITIVE    DOCTRINE. 


The  mtelleot 
must  be  ex- 
ercised 
Tznder  tlie 
impulse  of 
feeling. 


Disposition 
"With  which 
■we  enter  on 
the  study  of 
the  doctrine. 


To  subordinate  egoism  to  altruism —  such  is  in  its  integrity  the 
problem  for  man  to  solve,  and  its  solution  is  seen  on  inspection 
to  depend  principally  on  the  right  use  of  the  intelligence.  His 
activity  is  in  all  cases  neutral,  does  not  distinguish,  that  is, 
between  good  and  evil ;  has  no  aim  beyond  itself ;  and  as  such 
may  be  led  to  prefer  the  service  of  our  social  feelings  as  offering 
a  wider  field  than  the  personal.  The  intellect  has  less  energy, 
and  would  willingly  limit  itself  to  the  efforts  imposed  on  it  by 
our  personal  wants ;  it  shrinks  from  the  greater  exertion  de- 
manded by  the  service  of  society.  Yet  this  social  destination 
alone  can  satisfy  its  aspirations,  by  consecrating  it  as  the 
minister  of  order,  towards  which  its  bent  carries  it.  Such 
consecration,  however,  is  powerless  to  overcome  the  natural 
torpor  of  the  intellect,  unless  feeling  have  previously  drawn  out 
the  craving  for  unity.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  the  love  of 
the  beautiful  must  guide  us  in  our  search  after  the  true,  quite 
as  much  as  in  our  attainment  of  the  good.  The  ideal  rests 
ever  upon  the  real,  but  does  not  therefore  require  an  analytical 
knowledge  of  the  real ;  the  synthetical  conception  is  sufficient. 

Such  is  normally  the  position  of  the  intellect  when  ap- 
proaching the  study  of  the  doctrine  under  the  impulse  derived 
from  the  worship.  The  regular  developement  of  the  emotional 
nature  has  cultivated  the  taste  for,  and  the  instinct  of,  order,  by 
making  us  feel  its  power  to  confirm  love  by  submission  ;  sub- 
mission alone  being  able  to  preserve  love  from  the  mutability 
consequent  on  the  multiplicity  of  impressions.  That  this  state 
of  mind  prevail, — this  should  be  the  result  of  the  arrangement 
I  have  definitively  adopted  for  the  three  parts  of  the  Positive 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  143 

I'eligion.  For  it  is  a  state  which  represents  the  still  stronger 
tendency  in  the  same  direction  -which  will  be  the  natural  out- 
come of  the  ordinary  course  of  the  common  education,  its 
scientific  portion  not  beginning  till  after  the  previous  training 
of  the  feelings,  nay,  even  of  the  imagination,  derived  from  the 
family  life.  The  young  disciple  will  have  already  received  two 
of  the  social  sacraments,  and  often  gazed  with  admiration  upon 
the  public  festivals  ;  above  all,  however,  by  the  habit  of  private 
prayer  he  will  have  attained  the  frame  of  mind  requisite  for 
the  right  reception  of  his  abstract  education.  Thus  taught  by 
personal  experience  the  importance  of  the  order  which  he  has 
prescribed  for  himself  voluntarily,  he  is  subsequently  led  by 
the  same  to  respect,  nay,  even  to  love  the  laws  which  are 
beyond  his  control,  be  they  the  laws  of  external  nature  or  of 
man's  institution.  Preserved  from  the  impulses  of  selfishness 
by  having  his  wants  supplied  by  the  providence  of  others,  he 
is  so  placed  as  to  be  able  directly  to  appreciate  the  value  of 
the  sympathetic  instincts,  and  to  feel  deeply  their  natural 
connection  with  the  habits  of  synthesis. 

Thus  in  the  normal  state,  the  study  of  the  dogmatic  system  Tiie  Dogma 
will  always  be  entered  on  in  the  state  of  heart  and  intellect  in  order  to 
most  favourable  to  its  producing  its  full  results.     The  efforts  wS^Mp^anl 
now  required  to  place  the  student  at  the  true  point  of  view  Begime. 
intellectually  will  be  then  superfluous;  he  will  have  reached 
it  in  the  natural  course  of  things.     The  power  of  the  brain 
may   then  be  brought  to  bear   at   once    on  the  study    of  the 
objective    analysis,   the    object  of    which  is  to  develope    and 
consolidate  the  subjective  synthesis  which  flows  from  the  fun- 
damental principle  and  is  embodied  in  the  worship.     "Without 
fear  of  any  misdirection,  the  doctrine  will  always  be  studied  with 
reference  to  its  two  objects  :   the  perfecting  the  worship ;  the 
introducing  the  regime.     It  will  be  felt  that  the  great  aim  of 
om-  intellectual  existence  is  the  establishment  of  a  more  and 
more  complete  unity,  for  the  individual  as  for  the  society,  and 
the  means,  the  strengthening  the  sympathetic  instincts,  which 
are  the  source  of  unity,  by  the  synthetical  conceptions  which 
are  its  basis. 

To  form  a  better  idea  of  the  true  destination  of  the  doctrine.  Hypothesis 
we  must  begin  by  supposing  a  sudden  interruption  of  the  order  order  of  the 
of  the  world,  so  far  at  least  as  we  can  do  so  without  absurdity.  supi»seitto 
The  hypothesis  may  take  regular  shape  by  availing  ourselves 


144     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVK  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

of  the  ordinary  distinction  of  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 
laws,  the  conceptions  of  which  come  spontaneously  and  in  suc- 
cession, not  simultaneously.  So  necessary  are  the  moral  laws 
to  the  action  of  the  brain  that  we  could  not  possibly  conceive 
of  it  without  them,  from  our  not  finding  in  it  any  fixed  ten- 
dencies. The  hypothesis  of  the  suspension  of  the  intellectual 
laws  is  easier,  considering  their  tardy  recognition  and  its 
imperfect  amount  as  yet,  even  as  regards  the  higher  order  of 
minds.  Nevertheless,  it  is  especially  the  physical  laws  that 
admit  with  ease  of  the  hypothesis  in  question,  for  the  sub- 
jective state  and  the  imagination  of  the  poet  both  frequently 
emancipate  themselves  from  their  yoke. 
Even  limited         Even  within  these  limits,  however,  the  fiction  involves  a 

to  the  physi- 
cal laws  the    contradiction,  as  soon  as  we  recognise  the  dependence  of  the 

hypothesis  ' 

is  contra-       human  order  on  that  of  the  world  without.     For   the  most 

dictory, 

individual  and  most  complex  phenomena  cannot  be  conceived 
of  as  \mder  law  if  the  most  general  and  most  simple  are  sup- 
posed exempt.  But  this  very  contradiction  would  suffice  to 
show  how  intimate  is  the  connection  of  order,  even  physical 
order,  with  man's  whole  existence.  We  must  remember  that 
the  hypothesis  suggested  has  no  scientific  purpose  ;  it  is  simply 
offered  as  a  logical  artifice,  with  the  view  of  showing  more 
clearly  that  the  doctrine  is  a  necessary  element  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  unity,  the  foundation  of  which  is  the  worship. 
To  serve  this  purpose,  it  is  enough  that,  whatever  their  mutual 
interdependence,  the  different  classes  of  laws  be  radically 
distinct ;  that  they  are  so,  is  indicated  by  the  long  intervals 
which  separate  their  several  recognitions. 
Various  '-^^^  hypothesis  may  have  its  usefulness  enhanced,  by  consider- 

hypothesis'^"  ^^S  ^^  succession  the  degrees  of  extension  it  admits,  according 
as  we  imagine  the  order  of  things  more  or  less  completely  sus- 
pended. Eeduce  it  within  the  narrowest  possible  limits,  confine 
the  order,  that  is,  to  the  moral  laws  exclusively,  unity  could 
never  come  into  being,  and  still  more,  could  not  persist, 
if  there  were  allowed  even  a  low  degree  of  energy  to  the 
personal  instincts.  For  the  unstable  character  attaching  to 
our  thoughts  and  positions  would  preclude  the  feelings  from 
acquiring  any  consistency,  so  that  we  should  swing  to  and  fro 
indefinitely  under  the  impulse  of  vague  sympathies.  Nor  would 
our  state  be  xeij  different,  if  the  laws  of  the  intellect  were 
supposed  to  complete  the  moral  laws  without  the  resumption 


Ch4p.  iil]  the  DOCTEINE.  145 

of  its  sway  by  the  order  of  external  nature.  There  would  then 
he  still  an  uncertainty  in  the  world  outside  the  brain  sufiScient 
to  forbid  man's  attaining  harmony ;  since  in  the  designs  suggested 
by  the  heart  to  the  intellect  there  would  be  no  steadiness  from 
the  impossibility  of  carrying  them  into  execution  ;  they  would 
but  increase  our  sense  of  impotence.  Again,  limit  the  sus- 
pension of  law  to  the  order  of  inorganic  nature,  so  that  the 
organic  world,  equally  with  man's  world,  were  supposed  subject 
to  law ;  still  there  would  be  a  deficiency  of  harmony,  though 
the  uncertainty  would  be  lessened.  The  hypothesis  in  this 
last  form  is  at  once  easier  to  grasp,  and  more  conclusive  than 
in  its  other  two  forms,  and  we  may  perfect  it  by  the  further 
supposition  that  our  environment  were  such  as  to  free  us  from 
the  need  of  any  continuous  exertion ;  still  even  then  we  feel 
that  unity  would  remain  precarious  at  least,  if  not  impossible. 

Not  to  dwell  longer  on  considerations  of  this  nature,  it  is  ^nd^Meot 
essential  here  to  recognise  that  the  intellect  and  the  feelings  must  act  in 
must  act  in  concert  if  we  would  establish  and  maintain  a  state  synthesis. 
of  synthesis,  although  such  state  in  the  main  has  its  source  in 
the   instincts  of  sympathy.     Our  purest  affections  could  not 
ensure  harmony  were  we  not  under  compulsion  to  submit  to 
an  order  independent  of  us,  and  independent  even  as  regards 
the   phenomena   of  our   own   being.     But  it   is   in  the   pre- 
dominance of  the  heart  over  the  intellect  that  lies  the  essential 
source  of  our  unity,  as  it  compels  us  to  fulfil  the  intellectual 
conditions  of  that  unity,  and  disposes  us  to  love  a  necessity 
which  makes  us  better. 

Thus  the   worship,   by  its   cultivation  of  love,   gives  its  sotiiswor- 
sanction  to  the  doctrine,  without  reference  to  the  requirements  sanction  to 

p.  .,.-,.  i-i  ■,..  p'  the  dogma. 

of  action  as  the  indispensable  condition  of  our  unity,  whether  tio  system. 
as  individuals  or  societies.  It  is  not  solely  to  modify  the  order 
of  the  world  that  we  are  bound  to  know  it ;  the  chief  reason 
why  we  study  it  is  that  we  may  submit  to  it  properly,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  fundamental  theory  of  unity  summed  up  in 
the  word  religion,  the  construction  of  which  points  to  the 
without  as  consolidating  the  within.  -The  laws  most  open 
to  modification  are  the  laws  which  make  us  most  feel  that 
such  modifications,  far  from  setting  us  free,  do  but  in  reality 
bind  us  with  stronger  bonds,  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  out  at 
once  and  strengthen  our  unity.  In  the  normal  state  love  is 
our  guide  to  faith ;  we  begin,  therefore,  by  reverencing  and 

VOL.  IT.  L 


146  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

cherishing  these  bonds  of  our  own  institution,  with  their  con- 
stant tendency  to  secure  the  victory  of  our  higher  instincts 
and  we  soon  learn  to  look  with  similar  feelings  on  such  neces- 
sities as  are  inevitable.  The  opposite  course  may  become 
necessary  in  times  of  anarchy,  but  is  less  noble,  and  also  harder  • 
for  submission  then  appears  oppressive  in  its  character,  and 
as  such,  we  are  inclined  to  restrict  rather  than  enlarge  its 
sphere. 
The  heart  It   IS  the  heart,  then,  that   must   ever  rule,  though  the 

intellect        intellect  alone  can  indicate  in  the  relations  of  things  those 
which  are  available.     But  the  sway  of  feeling  can  never  be 
hostile    to   the   intelligence  ;  on   the   contrary,  it   gives  it  a 
sanction  unattainable  under  the  regime  of  pure  abstraction. 
For  as  it  bases  unity  on  the  subordination  of  egoism  to  al- 
truism, the  Positive   religion  sanctifies  in  the   name   of  the 
Great  Being  the  thoughts  as  well  as  the  actions,  which,  even 
indirectly,  are  of  a  nature  to  support  or  develope  the  instincts 
of  sympathy. 
Discipline  ot         But  its  sanction  is  never  without  the  accompaniment  of  a 
wholesome   discipline,    a   discipline  without  which  the  mind 
would  shake  off  its  torpor  only  to  follow  its  natural  bent  to- 
wards idle  speculations.    Its  preference  for  them,  on  the  plea  of 
their  greater  dignity,  is  invariably  traceable  to  its  weakness, 
whether  it  be  that  it  cannot  continue  its  researches  without 
losing  sight  of  its  true  aim,  or  that  it  recoils  from  the  more 
important  questions  as  the  harder.     Such  misdirection  requires 
for  its  due  control  the  combination  of  all  the  peculiar  appli- 
ances of  Positivism  :  the  inseparable  connection  of  the  cultiva- 
tion  of   science   with   the   priestly   oflSce ;    the   encyclopaedic 
character  of  our  ordinary  speculations  ;  unceasing  watchfulness 
on  the  part  of  the  public. 
Precautions  Such  are  the  appropriate  considerations  which  the  prevail- 

qiSed  '^°"     ing  disorder  of  our  time  compels  me  to  recall  in  detail ;  my 
encroach- "^     object  being,  that  the  study  of  the  doctrine  maybe  entered 

mentsofthe  ,  t     .  •    -x     ■  -a        ^  j_i  i 

intellect.  upon  and  pursued  m  a  proper  spirit,  m  spite  oi  the  weakness 
of  our  intellect,  which  leads  it  to  lose  sight  of  the  end  in  the 
means.  Such  is  our  feebleness,  that  it  will  always  necessitate 
constant  precaution  to  prevent  our  intelligence  from  playing 
false  to  the  Great  Being,  by  devoting  itself  to  the  service  of 
egoism  rather  than  of  altruism.  There  was  no  real  danger  in 
this   tendency  prior   to   the  developement  of  our  speculative 


tune. 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  147 

powers ;  bat  it  is'  the  leading  difficulty  in  the  discipline  of  man, 
now  that  the  intellect  is  being  constantly  appealed  to,  whether 
for  action  or  for  regulation.  But  if  the  difficulty  is  in  .a  high 
sense  peculiar  to  the  Positive  state,  that  state  has  more  re- 
sources for  meeting  it,  than  were  available  under  the  conditions 
of  the  theological  order,  when  the  intelligence  found  it  easy  to 
gain  a  sanction  for  any  deviation.  The  first  foundation  for  the 
discipline  of  the  intellect  was  laid  when  we  placed  Morals  at 
the  head  of  the  encyclopaedic  hierarchy ;  its  final  completeness 
is  given  it  by  placing  the  doctrine  below  the  worship.  When 
the  intellect  shall  be  thus  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the 
heart,  we  shall  be  justified  in  considering  the  problem  of  man's 
existence  as  solved,  so  far  as  it  can  be  solved.  In  fact,  no 
serious  difficulty  can  then  arise  as  to  the  proper  direction  of 
human  activity  ;  errors  in  regard  to  it  being  principally  due  to 
the  intellect's  proving  false  to  the  feelings. 

Yet  however  legitimate  this  discipline,  however  urgent  the  suchaisci- 
need  of  it  at  the  present  time,  we  must  still  admit  that  its  f  inoppor. 
introduction,  to  be  opportune,  must  coincide  in  point  of  time 
with  the  state  of  things  which  makes  it  practicable.     During 
the  whole  of  the  first  period  of  human  existence,  when  the 
object  was  to  call  into  action  all  our  powers,  without  any  pos- 
sibility of  duly  regulating  them,  the  Positive  spirit  naturally 
exercised  itself  on  all  the  theories  for  which  it  was  competent, 
with  a  preference  of  the  easier  to  the  more  important.     Apart 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  beyond  its  power  at  that  time  to 
devote  its  energies  to  the  construction  of  a  Synthesis,  the  nature 
of  which  and  the  source  of  which  were  equally  unknown,  the 
premature  concentration  on  such  an  object  would  have  been  an 
obstacle  to  its  developing  its  powers  of  abstraction  by  exerting 
them  on  subjects  of  logical  rather  than  scientific  value.     The 
genius  of  speculative  research  was  unchecked  save  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  discipline  of  Theology,  a  discipline  for  repression 
rather  than  guidance,  and  from  its  disparate  nature  at  all  times 
unable  to  reach  it  in  the  required  degree.     Science,  however, 
in  its  onward  course,  empirical  and  dispersive  though  it  has 
been,  has  gradually,  under  the  strengthening  impulse  of  Hu- 
manity, grasped  more  important  and  more  difficult  questions. 
This  of  itself  constitutes  an  advance  towards  an  efficient  disci- 
pliue,  one  which  it  can  the  less  reject,  as  itself  furnishes  the 
intellectual  basis  for  it.     The  distinct  existence  of  that  basis 

I.  2 


148  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  OE  MAN. 


The  disci- 
pline of 
science  in 
relation  to 
the  will. 


Pablio 
opinion* 


dates  from  the  time  when  the  Positive  spirit  took  definitive 
possession  of  its  chief  province  by  the  foundation  of  Sociology, 
soon  followed  by  the  systematic  construction  of  the  Eeligion  of 
Humanity. 

To    complete   our   conception  of  the  share  taken  by  the 
doctrinal  system  in  the  establishment  of  our  nonnal  unity,  we 
must  consider  the  discipline  to  which  it  is  ultimately  subjected 
as  having  for  its  chief  object  to  regulate  the  wills,  in  order  to 
direct  the  actions,  of  men.     "We  then  see  that  such  an  object 
requires  the  persistent  consensus  of  the  three  parts  of  the  true 
religion,  its  emotional,  its  intellectual,  and  its  active  elements. 
It  requires,  first  of  all,  the  developement  by  the  worship  of  our 
sympathetic  instincts,  as  being  the  principal  source  of  unity. 
But  it  implies,  in  the  next  place,  the  removal,  by  the  doctrine, 
of  our  natural  indecision  in  conduct,  furnishing  as  the  doctriae 
does,  from  without,  reasons  for  action  free  from  all  aUoy  of 
caprice.     The  discipline  suggested  by  love  thus  placed  on  a 
sure  foundation  of  faith,  the  regime  gives  it  completeness  and 
strength  by  fostering  a  form  of  activity  leading,  as  a  necessary 
consequence,  to  the  reaction  of  the  whole  on  each  part,  a  re- 
action which  is  at  once  a  guidance  and  a  check.     Thus  each  in 
its  due  degree,  feeling,  reason,  and  opinion,  take  part  in  the 
spiritual  government  of  man ;  the  temporal  government  being 
its   indispensable    supplement  and  concerned  solely  with  the 
outward  act,  with  no  direct  power  to  modify  the  will.    The 
acknowledgement   that   the  temporal   power  is   indispensably 
needed  to  secure  society  from  the  more  signal  mistakes,  makes 
us  feel  how  important  it  is  that  the  intellect,  which  supplies 
the  grounds  of  our  determinations,  should  be  in  unceasing  unison 
with  the  affections  from  which  they  spring. 

The  first  point,  then,  is  for  the  heart  to  govern  the  intellect, 
in  order  that  the  two,  by  their  agreement,  may  discipline  public 
opinion,  which  issues  in  a  moral  force  calculated  to  improve 
our  individual  impulses.  Public  opinion  as  the  general  com- 
plement of  the  spiritualty  of  Positivism,  presupposes  above  all 
suitable  feelings,  and  these  easily  attain  power  with  the  poorest 
order  of  minds  as  regards  the  conduct  of  others.  But  the  term 
ought  of  itself  to  remind  us  that  it  is  a  force  which  also  requires 
community  of  thought,  as  a  basis  for  our  judgment  in  each 
case.  Where  there  is  not  such  community,  from  divergence  or 
from  misdirection,  the  best  sentiments  fail  to  guide  aright  our 


Chap.  IILj  THE  DOCTEINE.  149 

conduct,  as  individuals  or  as  societies.  Now  the  agreement  of 
opinions  in  question  remains  incomplete  and  precarious,  so  long 
as  the  preconceptions  of  the  public  spring  from  views  which 
are  essentially  subjective,  not  being  able  as  yet  to  rest  on  an 
objective  conception  of  the  whole  order  of  things. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  science  acquires  a  sacredness  hitherto  Hence  a 

higher  sa- 

unattamable,  for  it  places  on  a  firm  footing,  at  one  and  the  crednessfor 
same  time,  true  liberty  and  true  morality.  Both  in  strict  re- 
lation with  the  habitual  predominance  of  good  impulses,  they 
rest  primarily  upon  love.  But  love  would  not  be  able  to  up- 
hold them  against  the  disturbing  influences  of  daily  life,  were 
it  not  for  the  submission  which  it  breathes  into  us  as  towards 
the  order  which  is  beyond  our  control,  and  the  great  laws  of 
which  alone  can  secure  the  victory  of  altruism  by  comprebsing 
egoism.  The  doctrinal  system  of  Positivism  may  seem  to  chain 
us  to  external  necessities,  but  in  reality  it  procures  us  the  only 
possible  liberty,  nay,  the  only  liberty  desirable,  by  its  elimina- 
tion of  the  element  of  caprice,  ever  favourable  to  the  worse 
instincts.  Theologism,  especially  monotheistic  Theologism, 
gave  ascendancy  to  a  defective  type  by  subjecting  the  real 
world  to  wills,  which  from  their  very  nature  could  not  but  be 
capricious.  Positivism  must  correct  these  anarchical  habits ; 
it  must  complete  and  systematise  the  instinctive  suggestions  of 
Fetichism  in  reference  to  an  all-embracing  Destiny,  which,  in 
its  original  conception  absolute,  ultimately  takes  a  relative 
character.  Subject  to  modifiable  laws,  we  are  in  the  truest 
sense  free  and  moral  beings,  for  their  sway  is  always  an  aid  to- 
wards the  triumph  of  our  higher  propensities. 

Even  whilst  limited  to  the  understanding  of  the  inorganic  ?™''  "^^ 

°  *^  lower 

world,  the  original  domain  of  science,  it  already  exerts  this  sciences 

o  •'  have  a  moral 

holy  influence,  the  first  beginning  of  which  we  trace  to  the  reaction, 
study  of  phenomena  which  are  absolutely  beyond  our  inter- 
ference. They  compel  submission,  and  the  submission  they 
determine  represses  our  self-regarding  instincts,  the  natural 
source  of  all  rebellion,  and  developes  the  altruistic  instinct 
which  of  the  three  is  the  most  in  requisition  and  the  least  ac- 
cessible. This  moral  influence — a  spontaneous  growth  in  Fetich- 
ism, especially  astrolatrical  Fetichism— is  organised  systemati- 
cally in  the  Positive  state,  for  we  then  are  no  longer  obliged 
to  attribute  life  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  that  so  we  may  respect 
an  order  of  things  which  is  the  basis  of  the  existence  of  the 


150  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OP  MAS. 


But  this 
reaction 
most  felt  in 
the  higher 
domains 
■where  the 
phenomena 
are  most 
modifiable. 


Belation  of 
the  dogma 
to  the  wor- 
ship most 
insisted  on 
here. 


Great  Being.  But  our  resignation,  in  the  earliest  stage  purely- 
passive,  before  long  is  ennobled,  by  virtue  of  the  activity  sug- 
gested by  the  regularity  of  the  order,  regularity  being  always 
in  proportion  to  simplicity.  We  transform  our  subjection,  we 
make  it  the  source  of  constant  advance  throughout  the  whole 
range  of  our  life  —  physical,  intellectual,  and  even  moral — 
for  we  make  it  dependent  on  this  unchangeable  type,  into 
accord  with  which  in  particular  we  bring  the  institution  of 
time. 

Still  the  theoretic,  no  less  than  the  practical,  power,  must 
find  its  chief  sphere  in  the  phenomena  most  open  to  modifica- 
tions, these  being  at  once  the  most  important  and  where  the 
order  of  nature  is  most  imperfect.     Since  our  attainment  of 
sufficient  knowledge  of  the  law  of  those  phenomena  to  warrant 
rational  prevision,  we  feel  how  greatly  their  study,  in  a  positive 
spirit,  may  perfect  human  discipline,  by  its  direct  control  over 
the  internal  sources  of  unity.     It  is  in  the  continuous  amelio- 
ration of  the  most  imperfect,  and  yet  the  most  important,  order, 
that  man's  intelligence  finds  its  best  field  both  for  theory  and 
practice,  such  is  the  surpassing  difficulty  of  the  inquiries  and 
so  much   greater  room  is  there  for  modifications.     But  the 
consecration  of  the  Positive  spirit  to  this  object  necessarily 
implies  its  discipline,  as  diverting  it  from  cultivating  the  in- 
ferior branches   of  study  in  a  degree   unwarranted  by  their 
legitimate  destination.     Thus  it  is,  that  reason,  the  immediate 
function  of  which  is  to  judge  everything  but  itself,  finds  an 
indirect  control  in  the  being  devoted,  above  all,  to  consolidate 
and  foster  our  emotional  nature,  without  being  thereby  de- 
barred  from  proceeding  steadily  in  its  advance  towards  the 
more  complex  phenomena.     Thus  we  get  rid  of  the  main  difii- 
culty  which  attaches  to  the  problem  of  Positive  unity ;  founded 
upon  the  predominance  of  the  heart,  it  seems  to  involve  a 
pressure  on  the  intellect,  whilst  unable  to   dispense  with  its 
cooperation.     On  the  contrary,  it  is  obvious  that  in  the  ma- 
turity of  the  Great  Being  the  intellect  of  man  enters  into 
possession  of  the  domain  hitherto  reserved  for  the  supremacy 
of  God,  without  neglecting  such  logical  or  scientific  preparatory 
training  as  the  cultivation  of  its  new  domain  requires. 

This  indispensable  introduction  justifies  us  in  considering 
the  final  systematisation  of  the  Positive  doctrine  as  having 
reached  the  point  at  which  it  is  easy  to  preserve  it  from  the 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEIKE.  151 

misleading  analytical  inquiries  which  were  naturally  thrown 
up  by  the  preparatory  period  of  scientific  training.  Such 
aberrations  would  tend  to  recur,  unless  the  discipline  of  religion 
were  continually  turning  us  from  them,  as  no  partial  synthesis, 
however  vast  its  scale,  is  adequate  or  even  possible ;  and  there- 
fore I  was  obliged  to  begin  by  insisting  on  the  general  con- 
nection between  the  doctrine  and  the  two  constituents  of  the 
religion  between  which  it  is  definitively  placed.  True,  it  is  in 
the  next  chapter  that  its  relation  to  the  regime  must  be  more 
fully  explained,  but  it  has  been  sufficiently  stated  in  the  pre- 
sent for  us  never  to  lose  sight  of  so  clearly  defined  a  destination, 
no  further  explanation  of  which  in  detail  is  needed.  It  being 
satisfactorily  established  that  we  must  know  the  order  we  would 
modify,  the  main  point  was  to  estimate  the  importance  of  its 
study  from  another  and  less  recognised  point  of  view,  when, 
that  is,  we  solely  aim  at  a  wise  acceptance.  The  twofold  ob- 
ject must  always  assign  its  legitimate  limits  to  our  study  of 
the  several  theories,  necessarily  a  waste  of  time  when  carried 
farther  than  is  required  to  guide  our  submission  or  our  action. 
But  both  grounds  naturally  coincide  so  far  as  regards  the 
highest  sphere  of  our  intellectual  exertion,  for  it  is  the  happy 
peculiarity  of  that  sphere  that  in  it  the  theory  is  inseparable 
from  the  application. 

For  the  construction  of  the  dogmatic  system  of  Positivism 
it  is  required  to  determine,  first,  its  general  nature ;  secondly, 
its  universal  principles ;  lastly,  its  normal  arrangement. 

From  the  first  point  of  view,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  omerai 
all  real  investigations  can  attain  their  true  object,  solely  on  the  the  doctrine. 
condition  of  being  abstract  in  character ;  of  being  directed,  must  be 
that  is,  to  the  coordination  of  events  independently  of  beings. 
To  guide  us  in  our  obedience  or  in  our  intervention,  the  laws 
of  nature  must  wear  a  form  of  complete  generality,  for  such 
generality  is  the  only  possible  basis  of  rational  prevision,  un- 
attainable in  concrete  instances.     We  sway  to  and  fro  in  con- 
duct so  long  as  we  have  not  established  rules  without  exception ; 
and  this  implies  that  for  the  study  of  beings  we  have  substi- 
tuted that  of  events.     Phenomena  to  be  manifested  must  be 
attached  to  matter ;    substances  are  cognisable  only  through 
their  properties.     The  twofold  connection  does  not  prevent  the 
process  of  abstraction  from    habitually  distinguishing  events 
from    beings,   looking    now  to    the    attributes    many  bodies 


abstract. 


152  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OP  MAN. 


Relation  of 
theory  and 
practice. 


Abstraction 
sanctioned, 
but  witli 
precautions. 


possess  in  common,  now  to  tlie  sum  of  the  qualities  which  con- 
stitute any  given  existence.  To  an  analysis  of  this  kind  may 
be  traced  the  origin  of  science,  when  towards  the  close  of  the 
first  period  of  childhood,  the  childhood  of  the  individual  or  of 
the  society,  abstract  contemplation  begins  to  prevail  over  the 
concrete.  Till  then,  reason  had  not  power  to  aid  the  feelings ; 
not  offering  the  fiixity  of  conception  which  is  the  source  of  pre- 
visions qualified  to  guide  us  in  action  or  in  submission,  as  they 
remove  the  indecision  to  which  we  are  naturally  liable  in  all  our 
resolutions. 

This  first  fundamental  step  in  advance  is  to  be  regarded  as 
establishing  the  true  distinction,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
true  agreement,  between  theory  and  practice.  The  generality 
characteristic  of  theory,  the  speciality  characteristic  of  practice, 
are  owing  to  the  fact  that  theory  is  abstract,  practice  concrete ; 
for  theory  relates  to  events,  action  deals  with  beings.  But  the 
contrast  between  the  two  is  no  obstacle  to  their  concert,  as  our 
action  upon  bodies  aims  solely  at  modifying  their  phenomena, 
the  exclusive  object  of  interest,  whether  for  speculative  or 
practical  purposes.  Abstract  laws  are,  then,  the  common 
province  of  science  and  art — science  applying  them  to  the 
discipline  of  our  intellect — art  to  the  regulation  of  our  activity. 
No  serious  inconvenience  arises  from  ignorance  of  the  concrete 
laws,  for  it  does  not  prevent  our  giving  both  to  our  practical 
and  intellectual  life  a  sufiiciently  rational  character,  by  the  aid 
of  such  general  indications  as  the  simpler  cases  afford  to  guide 
us  in  the  more  complex.  It  might  seem  that  action  requires 
a  fuller  knowledge  than  does  submission ;  but  all  the  more 
essential  conceptions,  by  the  nature  of  the  case,  are  available 
both  for  action  and  submission ;  as  the  basis  of  om-  conduct 
throughout  is  the  invariability  of  the  order  of  nature.  In  fact, 
such  modifications  as  it  admits  solely  affect  the  phenomena  in 
degree,  and  therefore  in  effecting  them  we  may  find  satisfactory 
guidance  in  an  empirical  estimate  of  the  limits  within  which 
variation  is  allowable  in  each  actual  case,  without  requiring  a 
concrete  science  which  is  beyond  our  reach. 

However  dangerous  then  for  the  heart,  and  even  for  the 
intellect,  abstraction  must  receive  a  definitive  sanction  as 
indispensable  to  the  systematic  service  of  Humanity.  The 
absorption,  of  withering  tendency,  to  which  it  invariably  leads, — 
the  chimerical  judgments  which  ai-e  its  frequent  attendant — 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTKINE.  153 

both  these  results  should  but  awaken  us  to  the  importance  of 
restricting  intellectual  cultivation  within  its  due  limits,  instead 
of  looking  upon  it  as  the  ideal  of  human  perfection.  It  must 
be  remembered  also  that  its  general  disadvantages  are  remedied, 
as  far  as  possible,  by  the  encyclopsedic  character  of  Positive 
speculation,  inseparably  connected  with  the  sacerdotal  office. 
For  abstraction  decreases  as  independence  and  simplicity 
decrease,  with  this  result,  that  theory  is  brought  nearer  to 
practice  in  proportion  as  our  conceptions  become  objectively 
less  general,  subjectively  more  general.  When  once  abstrac- 
tion has  reached  the  phase  in  which  all  the  aspects  of  science 
converge,  it  necessarily  ends,  in  order  that  there  may  be  scope 
for  the  intellectual  efforts  which  are  in  direct  connection  with 
practical  objects.  During  its  provisional  government,  it  tends 
to  engender  overweening  claims,  as  it  gives  free  course  to  the 
deductive  faculty.  There  was  a  danger  in  this,  so  long  as  the 
cultivation  of  science  retained  its  partial  character ;  but  the 
danger  disappears  in  the  encyclopeedic  regime,  for  that  repre- 
sents the  perfection  of  deduction  as  due  principally  to  the 
absence  of  complexity  in  the  lower  departments,  without  any 
diminution  in  the  growth  of  power  when  the  field  for  its 
exercise  rises  in  dignity. 

Our  normal  state  is  as  yet  so  poorly  outlined,  that  abstrac-  Aids  for  ab- 
tion  in  the  Positive  sense,  however  evident  the   need  of  it  the  subjec- 


tive media. 


in  natural  philosophy,  has  not  been  organised  except  for 
mathematical  speculations.  Everywhere  else,  signs  without 
images  are  as  a  rule  our  only  aid  in  abstract  meditation.  The 
institution  however  of  subjective  media,  mentioned  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  present  volume,  has  for  its  object,  as  it 
extends,  to  furnish  us  with  appropriate  means  for  representing 
all  events  whatsoever,  apart  from  the  beings  in  which  they  are 
seen.  Although  Theologism  had  its  origin  in  abstract  contem- 
plation, the  means  it  offered  were  throughout  limited  to  the 
search  after  causes,  with  no  power  to  directly  promote  the 
study  of  laws,  not  even  if  we  make  it  include  entities  as  well  as 
Gods.  Speculation  in  Positivism  will  not  have  its  full  aids 
until,  by  the  institution  of  subjective  milieus,  images  are 
brought  into  habitual  combination  with  signs,  so  as  to  allow 
a  permanent  influence  to  the  emotions. 

The  abstract  character  of  the  doctrinal  system  of  Positivism  The  miver- 
thus  established,  I  proceed  to  examine  the  hierarchy  which  pies  on 


154  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OP  MAN. 
which  the     constitutes    it,    not    however   without    first    determinino-  the 

■doctrine  '  o         ^ 

rests.  universal  principles  which  are  the  foundation  of  the  whole. 

First  phiio-  These  principles,  dimly  anticipated,  or  rather  desired,  hy 

^°^'^'  Bacon,  under  the  vague  name  of  Philosophia  Pnma,  form 

three  groups  of  general  laws :    one  group  ohj  active  and  suh- 

jective  in  an  equal  degree;    the  second  essentially  subjective; 

the  third  mainly  objective. 

Pirstgi-onp  I  form  the  first  group  by  combining  two  scientific  laws, 

laws.  naturally  in  close  interdependence,  with  a  logical  law,  which 

must  precede,  though  apparently  dependent  on  them. 
Law  I.  This  law  consists,  and  there  can  be  no  more  fundamental 

hypothesis,  principle,  in  the  injunction  in  all  cases  to  form  the  simplest 
hypothesis  consistent  with  the  whole  of  the  facts  to  be  re- 
presented. This,  the  sole  basis  of  true  rationality, — may  be 
considered  indifferently  as  objective  or  subjective,  since  it 
immediately  controls  the  subordination  of  the  subjective  to  the 
objective,  as  it  satisfies  at  once  our  inclination  and  om-  duty. 
But  in  our  use  of  it  we  must  never  forget  that  it  is  applicable 
to  our  affections ;  this  definitive  addition  to  its  hitherto  ex- 
clusively intellectual  form  was  insisted  on  in  the  last  volume. 
Complication  being  as  pernicious  to  the  intellect  and  to  the 
heart  when  due  to  the  feelings,  as  when  due  to  the  thoughts, 
we  must  clear  our  hypothesis  from  ill-will,  not  less  than  from 
other  superfluities.  If  the  latter,  or  intellectual,  simplification 
is  a  direct  aid  to  the  process  of  thought,  the  former  or  moral 
simplification  assists  it  indirectly ;  improving  as  it  does  the 
unavoidable  participation  of  moral  impulses  in  intellectual 
action,  such  impulses  exerting  a  more  disturbing,  although 
intenser  influence,  when  it  is  egoism,  and  not  altruism,  that 
takes  the  lead.  Nor  is  the  importance  of  this  emotional  com- 
plement less  as  regards  the  external  object  of  our  intellectual 
exertion,  any  excess  of  subjectivity  interfering  with  the 
clearness  of  our  vision  equally,  whether  it  be  traceable  to  the 
heart  or  to  the  intellect.  Thus  conceived,  the  precept  system- 
atises  at  once  the  constitution  of  the  Positive  logic  and  its 
developement,  for  it  introduces  the  combination  of  feelings 
with  images  and  signs  as  an  aid  to,  and  even  a  regulation  of, 
the  intelligence. 
Law  II.  The    second    principle,    generally    considered   of  superior 

fSy°3'iaw3.   importance  to  the  first,  is  the  invariability  of  all  laws  whatso- 
ever which  govern  phenomena  and  consequently  beings,  though 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  155 

it  is  only  in  regard  to  phenomena,  or  in  the  abstract  order, 
that  they  are  cognisable.  This  dogma  is  regarded  as  purely 
objective  in  character,  yet  it  is  no  longer  incumbent  on  me  to 
demonstrate  its  subjectivity,  really  less  disputable  than  its 
objectivity.  For  the  latter  character  must  always  rest  entirely 
on  the  inductions  of  experience,  irresistible  as  the  conclusion 
may  be,  nay  has  long  been,  at  any  rate  as  regards  the  lower 
sciences,  whereas  the  subjectivity  has  a  natural  basis  of  theoretic 
grounds.  We  can  demonstrate  the  necessity  there  is  to  estab- 
lish laws  as  a  guide  to  conduct,  but  experience  alone  teaches  us 
that  those  laws  represent  the  order  of  the  world,  to  the  degree 
in  which  we  require  to  know  it.  The  conviction  that  they  do 
so  is,  at  bottom,  direct  and  instinctive  only  in  reference  to  man's 
world ;  when  we  go  lower  it  is  solely  as  the  residt  of  a  long 
investigation,  called  for  chiefly  by  our  practical  wants.  The 
degree  of  certainty  we  attain  can  never  be  entirely  satisfactory ; 
such  as  it  is,  however,  it  is  indispensable  for  the  creation  of  the 
doctrinal  system  of  Positivism,  which,  without  it,  might  gratify 
the  mind,  but  be  no  reflection  of  the  external  world.  We  see, 
then,  why  the  second  principle  of  the  normal  Positive  doctrine 
is  as  inferior  to  the  first  in  dignity  as  in  usefulness  ;  method, 
from  every  point  of  view,  having  a  higher  value  than  doctrine, 
as  the  will  is  of  higher  value  than  the  act. 

The  object  of  the  third  principle  is  to  complete  the  second,  Lawiii. 
all  modifications  whatsoever  of  the  order  of  the  world  being  by  bmty.'^*" 
it  limited  to  the  greater  or  less  intensity  of  the  phenomena, 
with  no  alteration  in  their  arrangement.  It  follows  from  the 
explanations  of  the  preceding  volume,  that  this  law  of  modi- 
ficability  must  be  kept  distinct  from  that  of  invariability,  for 
this  last  might  be  confined  to  maintaining  invariability  of 
nature  in  events,  whilst  admitting  change  in  their  order  of 
succession.  Inasmuch  as,  so  conceived,  the  second  principle 
would  lose  its  main  value,  by  the  conception  we  give  sufficient 
prominence  to  the  independence  as  well  as  the  utility  of  the 
third.  In  theory,  the  law  reacts  in  the  direction  of  reducing  all 
real  questions  to  questions  of  quantity ;  a  transformation,  how- 
ever, only  possible  in  any  high  degree  in  regard  to  the  lower 
phenomena.  In  practice,  the  law  leads  to  the  subordination,  on 
rational  grounds,  of  action  to  contemplation,  for  it  limits  our 
intervention,  even  our  subjective  intervention,  to  a  change  of 
degree,  leaving  the  order  undisturbed. 


156  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

The  distinct-         Such  is  the  first  group  of  universal  laws,  as  closely  connected 
laws  renders   with  the  mental  process  as  with  the  external  objects  of  our 
synthesis       speculations.     Already,  even  at  this  early  stage,  it  is  evident 
that  their  number  is  sufficient  to  preclude  all  hope  of  con- 
structing an  absolute  synthesis,  either  from  an  objective  or 
subjective  stand-point,  since  although  convergent,  they  remain 
The  second    quite  distinct.     The  second  group,  directly  concerned  with  the 
intellect,  subdivides  into  two  groups ;    each  comprising  three 
laws,  the  one  regarding  the  intelligence  from  the  statical,  the 
other  from  the  dynamical  point  of  view.     The  sphere  of  these 
six  new  laws  would  seem  narrower  than  that  of  their  three 
predecessors,  but  it  is  really  as  extensive.     For  by  their  regula- 
tion of  the  reason,  in  itself  and  in  its  exercise,  they  regulate 
implicitly  the  objects  on  which  that  reason  is  exercised,  and 
which,  but  for  it,  would  remain  unknown. 
(a)  Statical  In  the  statical  group,  the  fundamental  law,  established  by 

LawT'ctv")  Aristotle,  developed  by  Leibnitz,  and  completed  by  Kant,  is 
ttooftta  *^®  subordination  of  all  subjective  constructions  to  objective 
to'theobfec-  materials.  This  principle  however  is  inadequate  to  express 
'*™-  the  state  of  reason,  since  it  is  equally  applicable  to  insanity, 

whether  transient  or  permanent.     Hence  for  the  right  statical 
Law  2  (V.)     constitution  of  the  understanding,  we  require  a  second  law,  a 
theiina"e°to  law  wMch  represents  the  internal  images  as  less  vivid  and  less 
sion™^'"^"    distinct  than  the   external  impressions.     Were  it  not  for  this 
comparative  weakness,  which  ceases  under  mental  alienation, 
the  without  never  could  regulate  the  within,  though  it  might 
continue  to  afford  it  nourishment  and  even  stimulation.     Even 
this  complementary  law,  however,  would  be  insufficient  to  place 
our  understanding  in  its  normal  condition,  were  all  the  co- 
existent images,  as  is  the  case  in  incipient  madness,  whilst 
weaker  than  the  external  impressions,  equal  in  power  among 
■Law  3  (VL)    themselves.     A  third  law,  then,  is  required,  and  it  lays  down 
the  necessity  of  one   image  predominating  over  aU  that  are 
simultaneously  evoked  by  the   excitement  of  the  brain.     Thus 
complete,  the  statical  theory  of  the  understanding  will  never 
require  any  additional  laws,  since  the  within  is  no  longer  able 
to  disturb  the  sway  of  the  without. 
(6)  Dynami-         -A.S  for  the  dynamical  theory  of  the  understanding,  that  has 
been  satisfactorily  laid  down  in  the  preceding  volume  by  the 
establishment  of  the  three  fundamental  laws  of  human  evolution, 
as  well  individ  ual  as  collective.     The  three  preside,  each  in  its 


cal  subdi- 
vision. 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  157 

due  place,  over  the  contemporaneous  movements  of  the  intelli- 
gence, the  activity,  and  the  feeling  of  man.  The  first  law  tawKvii.) 
consists  in  the  succession  of  the  three  states,  fictitious,  abstract,  tuaipro- 
and  positive,  through  which  every  understanding  passes  in  all 
its  conceptions  without  exception,  but  with  a  velocity  pro- 
portioned to  the  generality  of  the  particular  phenomena  in 
question.     The  second  is  a  recognition  of  an  analogous  pro-  law  2 

.  ,  .  or  (VIII.)  of 

gression  in  human  activity,  which  in  its  first  stage  is  Conquest,  Material 
then  Defence ;  lastly  Industry.    The  third  law  shows  that  man's  ^^w  3 
social  nature  follows  the  same  course ;  that  it  finds  satisfaction,  rifprogrffit 
first,  in  the  Family,  then  in  the  State,  lastly  in  the  Eace,  in 
conformity  with  the  peculiar  nature  of  each  of  the  three  sym- 
pathetic instincts.     These  two  last  laws  have  no  immediate 
connection  with  the  intelligence,  but  are  not  the  less  indispen- 
sable to  any  clear  conception  of  its  movements.     For  they 
preside  over  the  necessary  and  persistent  relations  which  exist 
between  our  scientific  conceptions  and  our  practical  operations 
on  the  one  hand,  our  moral  impulses  on  the  other,  the  former 
being  the  object,  the  latter  the  source  of  the  said  concep- 
tions. 

In  accordance  with  this  threefold  progression,  the  second  Harmony'of 
group  of  universal  laws  is  perfectly  harmonious.  Its  first  half,  group, 
in.  fact,  makes  order  consist  in  the  establishment  of  unity, 
whilst  its  second  reduces  progress  to  the  developement  of  the 
imity  established.  So  becoming  at  one  and  the  same  time 
more  synthetical,  more  synergical,  and  more  sympathetic, 
human  nature  tends  towards  its  systematic  constitution,  con- 
sequent on  the  growing  ascendancy  of  altruism  over  egoism. 

I  must  now  complete  the  whole  formed  by  the  universal  ThM  group, 
laws,  by  the  consideration  of  the  third  group,  where  objec- 
tivity prevails.  This  group,  as  the  last,  is  composed  of  sis 
laws ;  as  the  last  also,  it  subdivides  into  two  equal  series ; 
adopting  a  distinction  which  accords  with  a  difference  in  their 
nature,  and  which  is  most  strongly  marked  in  reference  to  their 
acceptance.  For  the  first  series,  more  objective  in  character, 
was  originally  limited  to  mathematical  phenomena,  without 
waiting  for  the  systematic  construction  of  Positivism,  though 
they  aided  in  its  preparation,  and  derived  from  it  exclusively 
their  claim  to  real  universality.  The  other  series,  on  the 
contrary,  has  too  large  an  admixture  of  subjectivity  to  gain 
acceptance,  so  long  as  Positivism  had  not  yet  embraced  its 


158  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  ifULlTY..     t±lk  a^uTuaa  ui-'  jman. 


First  sub- 
group, a 
generalisa- 
tion of  the 
laws  of 
motion. 


Law  1  (X.) 
of  persist- 
ence. 


Law  2  (XI.) 
of  compati- 
ble action. 


Law  3 
(XII.)  of 
mutual  ac- 
tion. 


Second  sub- 
group. 

Law  1 
(XIII.) 
Conversion 
■of  existence 
into  motion. 


highest  domain,  although  faint  germs  of  its  laws  are  naturally- 
traceable  during  the  period  of  preparation.  The  distinction  is 
one  which  tends  to  disappear  in  the  normal  state.  Nevertheless 
even  then  it  will  always  retain  a  certain  importance,  from  the 
analogy  which  cannot  but  exist  between  the  initiation  of  the 
individual  and  the  preparation  of  the  race. 

Originally  discovered  by  the  geometricians,  at  a  time  when 
the  scientific  spirit  had  already  lost  its  old  philosophical  cha- 
racter and  had  not  yet  acquired  its  new,  the  first  series  of 
objective  laws  has  never  hitherto  been  at  all  adequately  under- 
stood. For  it  is  the  outcome  of  a  systematic  generalisation  of 
the  three  laws  which  are  thought  to  be  applicable  only  to 
motion,  in  the  common  sense,  as  an  attribute  of  matter,  and 
the  Positive  conception  of  which  is  materially  obscured  by  the 
metaphysical  alloy  due  to  academic  anarchy.  The  first  law, 
in  harmony  e(i[ually  with  the  dogma  of  invariability  and  with 
our  need  of  permanence,  is  this  :  every  state,  statical  or  dyna- 
mical, has  an  inherent  tendency  to  continue  as  it  is  without 
change,  resisting  all  disturbance  from  without.  In  the  second 
law,  motion  becomes  compatible  with  existence  by  virtue  of  the 
power  resident  in  every  system  to  maintain  its  constitution, 
whether  in  exercise  or  at  rest,  when  its  constituent  parts  are 
subject  to  simultaneous  changes,  on  the  condition  that  the 
changes  affect  all  parts  in  a  perfectly  equal  degree.  Lastly,  the 
third  law  governs  all  reciprocal  influences,  as  it  proclaims  the 
necessity  of  the  equivalence  of  reaction  and  action,  if  the  degree 
of  each  is  measured  in  accordance  with  the  peculiar  nature  of 
each  contact.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the  special  laws 
enunciated  respectively  by  Kepler,  Gralileo,  and  Newton,  or 
rather  Huyghens,  in  order  to  form  a  basis  for  the  theory  of 
mechanics,  are  the  scientific  germs  of  these  philosophical 
theorems,  which  are  applicable  to  all  phenomena  without  excep- 
tion. But  we  also  see  that  for  their  systematic  expression,  the 
first  step  to  which  was  taken  in  the  Philosophie  Positive,  it 
was  indispensably  necessary  that  the  Positive  spirit  should  have 
risen  by  successive  stages  to  the  complete  generality  which  it 
requires  for  its  mission. 

The  second  series  of  objective  laws  connects  with  the  first 
through  the  medium  of  a  law  which,  as  they  were,  is  traceable 
to  a  mathematical  germ,  although  the  origin  in  its  case  is  not 
so  distinctly  seen.     It  is  the  law  by  which  in  all  cases  we  make 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  159 

the  theory  of  motion  subordinate  to  the  theory  of  existence,  by 
looking  upon  all  progress  as  the  developement  of  the  particular 
order  in  question,  the  conditions  of  such  order,  whatever  they 
may  be,  regulating  the  changes  which  together  make  up  the 
evolution.  In  the  hands  of  the  geometricians,  this  law  is 
limited  to  the  reduction  of  questions  of  motion  to  questions  of 
equilibrium  ;  its  generalisation  was  possible  only  in  Positivism, 
when  I  traced  it  in  social  phenomena,  in  which  it  finds  its 
chief  destination.  Still  its  origin  in  Mathematics  deserves  a 
lasting  remembrance,  as  it  allows  us,  over  and  above  any  his- 
torical considerations,  to  form  a  dogTnatic  connection  with  the 
last  law  of  the  first  series,  a  connection  indicated  by  the  original 
confusion  of  the  two.  This  relation,  binding  as  it  does  more 
closely  together  the  two  halves  of  the  third  group,  will  be  at 
all  times  kept  in  mind  by  the  terms  appropriated  to  the  law 
under  consideration,  the  objective  character  of  which  should 
thus  stand  out  more  fully. 

On  examining  the  next  law,  we  come  upon  a  close  connec-  Law  2 

(XIV.)  Clas- 

tion  between  this  third  group  and  its  predecessor,  as  the  second  smoation. 
halves  of  either  seem  indistinguishable.  For  it  is  the  funda- 
mental law  of  Positive  classification,  the  invariable  principle 
of  which  is  the  increase  or  decrease  of  generality — equally, 
whether  subjective  or  objective.  Now  this  principle  fuses  with 
the  law  of  the  three  states,  and  is  indispensable  as  its  com- 
plement when  applied  to  the  arrangement  of  our  conceptions 
without  taking  account  of  the  existences  of  which  they  are  the 
conceptions.  That  the  two  were  introduced  simultaneously  in 
the  small  work  which  forms  the  basis  of  all  my  subsequent  Appendix  to 
writings — this  fact  alone  would  suflSce  to  establish  their  connec-  part  3. ' 
tion,  a  connection  familiar  to  Western  thinkers,  owing  to  the 
progress  of  Positivism.  But  so  regarded,  the  penultimate  law 
of  the  third  group  would  substantially  belong  to  the  second 
group,  whereas  it  must  be  kept  distinct.  For  this  purpose 
then,  in  our  consideration  of  it,  we  must  insist  most  on  its 
objective  character,  making  it  to  apply  above  all  to  pheno- 
mena, and  even  to  beings,  or  at  any  rate  to  existences.  So 
applied,  it  subordinates  nobleness  to  force,  by  showing  that  the 
higher  phenomena  in  every  case  depend  on  the  coarser  attri- 
butes, the  sway  of  these  last  being  recognised  as  inevitable  but 
not  allowed  to  become  oppressive,  the  regularity  of  its  action 
being  accepted  as  a  compensation  for  its  inferiority  in  dignity. 


160  SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE 


FUTURE   Of  MAN. 


Law  3  (XV.) 
of  con- 
tinnlty ;  the 
subordina- 
tion of  the 
mean  terms 
to  the  ex- 
tremes. 


Such  are  the 
fifteen  uni- 
versal laws, 
closely  con- 
nected, un- 
changeable 
in  order,  and 
amply  suffi- 
cient for  all 
sound  specu- 
lation; the 
'  Prima 
Philosophia  * 
of  Bacon. 


The  First 
Philosophy 
brought  to 
bear  in  the 
formation  of 
the  hierar- 
chy of  the 
sciences. 

Eolation  of 
this  hierar- 
chy to  the 
synthetic 
and  analytic 
dogmatic 
systems. 


I  complete  the  last  group  of  universal  laws  by  the  law 
which  represents  the  intermediate  state  as  in  all  cases  subordi- 
nate to  the  extrenies  which  it  brings  into  connection.  I  have 
so  frequently  applied  this  law  in  the  volumes  of  this  work,  as 
to  make  it  unnecessary  for  me  to  dwell  on  it  here.  The  great 
Buffon  seems  to  me  to  have  had  a  glimpse  of  it,  but  I  think 
that  I  am  as  fully  warranted  ultimately  in  claiming  it  for 
myself,  as  I  am  in  claiming  the  great  majority  of  the  fourteen 
previous  laws,  all  more  or  less  conjectures  of  my  various 
predecessors,  yet  all  peculiar  to  my  systematisation.  The 
appearance  of  subjectivity  attaching  to  this  law,  due  especially 
to  its  finding  its  application  in  logic  rather  than  in  science, 
must  not  throw  into  the  shade  its  objective  character.  For  it 
proclaims  the  interdependence  of  the  objects  studied  quite  as 
forcibly  as  it  does  the  connection  of  their  studies. 

"We  have  thus  the  ultimate  basis  of  the  dogmatic  system  of 
Positivism  in  the  combination  of  fifteen  laws  of  universal 
applicability,  forming  three  natural  groups  :  the  first  of  three 
laws ;  the  two  others  each  of  six,  each  also  subdividing  into  two 
equal  series.  The  various  connections  above  indicated  suffice 
to  show  the  perfect  interdependence  of  the  whole  so  formed, 
although  the  number  of  such  connections  will  be  largely 
increased  when  we  come  to  use  it.  Without  insisting  on  this 
at  present,  I  must  call  attention  to  the  definitive  nature  of  the 
arrangement  of  these  fifteen  laws,  definitive  by  the  nature  of 
the  case,  no  one  of  them  being  transposable  without  a  violation 
of  the  rational  order.  As  for  their  completeness  as  a  whole, 
this  follows  from  their  giving  us  even  now  the  means  of  satis- 
factorily regulating  all  healthy  investigation.  "We  may  regard, 
then,  as  realised  the  noble  aspiration  of  Bacon,  the  construction 
of  a  first,  a  prime  philosophy,  qualified  to  direct  us  in  all  our 
scientific  meditations,  nay  even  to  aid  us  in  the  exercise  of  our 
practical  reason. 

The  power  of  this  philosophy  as  an  instrument  of  system- 
atic thought,  will  become  palpable  by  the  construction  of  the 
Positive  hierarchy  of  phenomena  and  conceptions,  on  the  basis 
of  a  relative  view  of  the  whole  order  of  the  world. 

This  hierarchy,  the  grand  result  of  the  course  of  objective 
investigation  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  ultimate  synthesis, 
has  for  its  legitimate  object  the  completion  of  the  synthe- 
tic, the  direction  of  the  analytic,  constitution  of  the  Positive 
doctrine. 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  161 

The  synthetic  form,  the  direct  offspring  of  the  fundamental  Thesyn- 
f>n/-i       ,  Th  '        i^i'.i  thetic  con- 

theory  of  the  (xreat  Being,  finds  its  complete  ideal  expression  stitntion. 

in  the  worship,  and  condenses  all  the  various  theories  in  Morals, 
for  in  Morals  "we  study  human  nature  for  the  government  of 
human  life.  All  our  real  speculations,  the  most  abstract  and 
the  most  simple  not  excepted,  necessarily  converge  towards 
this  human  domain,  for  indirectly  they  help  us  to  the  know- 
ledge of  man  under  his  lower  aspects,  on  whicli  the  nobler  are 
dependent.  Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  phenomenon  within  Aupheno- 
our  cognisance  which  is  not  in  the  truest  sense  human,  and  that  San?  ^^' 
not  merely  because  it  is  man  who  takes  cognisance  of  it,  but 
also  from  the  purely  objective  point  of  view,  man  summarising 
in  himself  all  the  laws  of  the  world,  as  the  ancients  rightly  felt. 
Yet  each  class  of  attributes  must  be  studied  with  reference  to 
the  simplest  cases ;  that  is,  in  beings  where  it  exists,  if  not 
isolated,  at  any  rate  freed  from  all  complication  with  the  higher 
attributes,  which  we  eliminate  provisionally  by  abstraction,  the 
better  to  understand  their  foundations.  Thus  beginning  with  the 
simplest  phenomena,  we  gradually  increase  the  complication  of 
our  enquiries  by  the  introduction  in  succession  of  higher  pro- 
perties, so  training  ourselves  by  a  course  of  decreasing  abstrac- 
tion for  the  normal  state  of  the  scientific  reason.  When  we 
have  reached  it,  we  enter  on  the  regime  of  complete  synthesis, 
the  regime  in  which  man,  viewed  directly  as  indivisible  by 
nature,  is  the  constant  object  of  all  theories  calculated  to  make 
him  more  fit  for  the  service  of  the  Grreat  Being.  Abstraction 
thus  loses  its  scientific  preeminence  and  retains  solely  its  logical 
utility  ;  we  habitually  concentrate  all  our  efforts  on  the  most 
important  problems,  recurring  to  the  lower  only  to  meet  the 
wants,  in  particular  respects,  of  the  higher  domain. 

Our  intellectual  life,  however,  as  here  sketched,  will  alwavs  Anindm- 

.  -^       dual  prepa- 

require  a  training  of  the  individual  analogous  in  kind  to  the  '^"tJoi 

'  °  ...  .  needed  to 

initiation  of  the  race ;   a  training  m  which  objective  analysis  "■*'ai°  this 


provides  us  with  the  necessary  basis  of  the  subjective  synthesis  ^^e  study  oi 
which,  in  the  normal  state,  is  to  be  paramount.     In  the  second  sciences  wiu 

call  for  new 

place,  the  direct  cultivation  of  the  higher  domain  will  often  call  researches  in 

t.  °  the  lower. 

■  for  new  researches,  logical  or  scientific,  in  the  various  inferior  ^^  both 

cases  the 

sciences.     Now  the  training  and  the  researches  equally  must  be  hierarchy 
guided  by  the  Positive  hierarchy  which  is  a  consequence  of  the 
threefold  system  of  universal  laws  above  given.     That  hierarchy 
realises  the  confused  wish  of  Bacon  as  to,  the  construction  of  a 

VOL.  IV.  M 


useful. 


162    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

scala  intelleMs,  having  for  its  object  the  enabling  us  to  pass, 
in  both  directions,  without  a  breach  of  continuity  from  any  one 
class  of  researches  to  any  other.  This  encyclopsedic  scale,  insti- 
tuted in  my  philosophy,  and  become  an  integral  part,  by  con- 
stant use,  of  the  present  work,  requires  no  further  explanation 
here  except  as  to  its  immediate  connection  with  the  subjective 
synthesis. 
Scientific  The  conception  of  the  hierarchy  of  the  sciences  from  this 

oFthe°Posi-°  point  of  view  implies,  at  the  outset,  the  admission,  that  the  sys- 
ive  sea  e.  ^gmatic  study  of  man  is  logically  and  scientifically  subordinate 
to  that  of  Humanity,  the  latter  alone  unveiling  to  us  the  real 
laws  of  the  intelligence  and  activity.  Paramount  as  the  theory 
of  our  emotional  nature,  studied  in  itself,  must  ultimately  be, 
without  this  preliminary  step  it  would  have  no  consistence. 
Morals  thus  objectively  made  dependent  on  Sociology,  the  next 
step  is  easy  and  similar  ;  objectively  Sociology  becomes  depen- 
dent on  Biology,  as  our  cerebral  existence  evidently  rests  on  our 
purely  bodily  life.  These  two  steps  carry  us  on  to  the  concep- 
tion of  Chemistry  as  the  normal  basis  of  Biology,  since  we  allow 
that  vitality  depends  on  the  general  laws  of  the  combination 
of  matter.  Chemistry  again  in  its  turn  is  objectively  subordi- 
nate to  Physics,  by  virtue  of  the  influence  which  the  universal 
properties  of  matter  must  always  exercise  on  the  specific 
qualities  of  the  different  substances.  Similarly  Physics  become 
subordinate  to  Astronomy  when  we  recognise  the  fact  that  the 
existence  of  our  terrestrial  environment  is  carried  on  in  perpetual 
subjection  to  the  conditions  of  our  planet  as  one  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  Lastly,  Astronomy  is  subordinated  to  Mathematics  by 
virtue  of  the  evident  dependence  of  the  geometrical  and  me- 
chanical phenomena  of  the  heavens  on  the  universal  laws  of 
number,  extension,  and  motion. 
Logical  ap-  When  it  has  reached  this  term,  the  subjective  arrangement 

PosMve"'  °*  of  the  objective  hierarchy  is  complete,  by  its  termination  in 
®™'^"  the  one  science  which  has  no  other  below  it,  and  which  there- 

fore can  be  the  direct  object  of  study  on  the  basis  of  certain 
spontaneous  inductions  independent  of  all  deduction.  Although 
the  encvclopeedic  series  is  here  rested  solely  on  the  ground  of 
scientific  relations,  yet,  as  at  the  outset,  the  ground  so  taken 
always  coincides  with  its  logical  appreciation.  For  although  the 
Positive  method  is  necessarily  uniform,  nevertheless,  it  is  only 
in  the  simplest  branches  of  study  that  its  deductive  capacity 


Chap.  Hi.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  163 

can  find  its  proper  developement.  Its  inductive  properties 
must  come  into  view  subsequently,  as  in  due  and  gradual  course 
more  complicated  phenomena  introduce  observation  in  Astro- 
nomy, experiment  in  Physics  and  Chemistry,  comparison  in 
Biology,  filiation  in  Sociology.  When  induction  has  thus  com- 
plemented deduction,  the  final  science  brings  the  two  into 
their  normal  and  direct  combination  by  its  construction  of  the 
subjective  method,  properly  speaking  peculiar  to  Morals. 

Such,  under  its  two  aspects,  is  the  connection  by  virtue  of  sapremacy 

'  r  3  J  ot  Morals. 

which  this  supreme  science  organises,  one  after  the  other,  all 
the  Positive  sciences,  the  culture  of  which  henceforth  will  be 
controlled  by  the  inseparable  relations  which  exist  between 
them  and  the  science  of  man.  Morals,  as  the  synthetical 
terminus  of  the  whole  scientific  construction,  is  as  superior  to 
its  various  preliminaries  in  rationality  as  it  is  in  utility,  since 
the  phenomena  which  are  its  proper  subject  matter  necessarily 
influence  us  in  our  examination  of  all  the  rest.  At  first,  it  is 
true,  they  must  be  kept  out  of  view,  but  as  our  speculations  are 
not  in  the  fullest  sense  real  till  this  temporary  abstraction  has 
ceased,  we  must  not  continue  it  longer  than  is  necessary. 

To  appreciate  at  its  just  value  the  hierarchy  above  given,  it   TheWerar- 
is  necessary  to  recognise  its  competence  to  guide  us  in  the  sub-  ^lunthf^ 
division  of  each  special  science  no  less  than  in  the  coordination  each'spedai 
of  the  whole  body  of  distinct  sciences.     The  same  principle  of  ^°'™'^' 
the  interdependence  and  simplification  of  studies  by  virtue  of 
the  degree  of  generality  in  the  phenomena,  will  give  us  in  all 
cases  our  subdivisions  of  each  of  the  seven  fundamental  sciences, 
provided  that  we  attain  sufficient  precision  in  our  classification. 
It  follows,  from  the  necessarily  homogeneous  character  of  these 
several   subdivisions,    that   in    combination  they  perfect    our 
scientific  scale,  in  relation  to  its  most  important  attribute,  by 
developing  its  continuity.     In  this  way  thought  may  habitually 
pass  from  the  lowest  mathematical  speculations  to  the  sublimest 
moral  conceptions,  or  vice  versa,  by  a  series  of  intermediate 
steps  so  easy  as  to  require  no  effort  to  a  well-trained  mind. 
To  whatever  degree  we  specialise  our  enquiry,  the  unity  of 
human  science  remains  intact,  the  student  never  losing  sight  of 
the  two  or  three  consecutive  subdivisions  which  connect  each 
particular  branch  of  science  with  the  general  hierarchy. 

Again,  the  full  appreciation  of  this  Positive  scala  vntellectus  The  concrete 
as  a  logical  and  scientific  institution,  involves  our  looking  on  it  toe'wraM-' 

M  2 


164    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


chy,  that  is, 
applied  to 
Beings. 


Here  again 
the  hierar- 
chical prin- 
ciple Talua- 
ble  for  sub- 
division. 


.   as  equally  adapted  to  represent  the  interdependence  of  beings 
or  existences  as  that  of  phenomena  and  speculations.      Under 
its  concrete  aspect,  when  viewed  as  a  whole,  it  forms  a  series  of 
states  which  rise  in  dignity  in  a  direct  ratio  with  their  compli- 
cation, each  resting  upon  its  predecessor.     The  result  is  the 
relative  conception  of  the  order  of  the  world,  an  order  neces- 
sarily distributed  into  seven  categories,  superimposed  one  on 
the  other  in  such  a  way  that  each  modifies  that  which  precedes, 
and  commands  that  which  succeeds.     This  series  of  modifying 
and  commanding  influences  issues  in  presenting  man  as  the 
true  condenser  and  spontaneous  regulator  of  the  social,  vital, 
and  inorganic  milieu,  in  dependence  on  which  he  developes. 
But  his  personal  action,  as  it  has  for  its  object  the  modification 
for  the  better  of  destiny  by  will,  is  efficient  and  noble  only  on 
this  condition :  that  it  be  freely  devoted  to  the  constant  service 
of  the  Great  Being,  the  being  of  which  the  individual  is  the 
indivisible    element   and   the  necessary  product.      When  his 
activity  thus  takes  its  normal  direction,  man  is  continually 
improving  the  order  to  which  he  is  subject,  by  strengthening 
the  reaction  of   its  vital    influences  on  its  material,  avaihng 
himself,  for  this  purpose,  of  the  ever-growing  cooperation  of  all 
his  voluntary  associates.     We  thus  see  how  our  relative  concep- 
tion of  the  economy  of  the  world,  by  using,  both  in  theory  and 
practice,  the  Positive  hierarchy,  is  able,  in  an  equal  degree,  to 
give  systematic  expression  to  the  dignity  of  the  individual, 
and  his  devotion  to  society. 

To  this  concrete  application  of  the  encyclopaedic  scale  I 
must  extend  the  observation  above  explained  when  treating  of 
the  abstract  hierarchy,  the  object  of  which  was  to  introduce  iato 
it  greater  continuity.  The  classification  on  the  principle  of 
increase  of  complication  and  decrease  of  generality,  is  as  appli- 
cable in  the  subdivision  of  the  hierarchy  of  beings  as  in  that  of 
attributes,  so  as  to  connect,  by  sufficiently  easy  steps,  all  the 
intermediate  terms  whatsoever.  Its  power  in  this  respect  is 
most  sensible  in  regard  to  the  higher  beings,  in  Biology,  that 
is,  first,  and  then  in  Sociology,  whilst  it  is  in  the  lower  domain 
that  the  abstract  subdivision  finds  its  most  appropriate  sphere. 
Thus  we  form,  in  as  full  developement  as  our  enquiries  can 
possibly  require,  a  general  scale  of  co-existent  beings,  and  as 
the  completion  of  such  scale,  a  series  of  states  offered  to  our 
view  by  the  only  being  capable  of  continuous  advance.    So 


Obap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  165 

constituted,  the  Positive  hierarchy  becomes  the  condensation  of 
all  real  sciences,  and  the  basis  of  all  practical  conceptions,  as  it 
brings  the  classification  of  the  arts  into  coincidence  with  that  of 
the  sciences. 

The  conclusion  here  reached  is  the  last  step  in  our  explana-  The  First 

,       I     p  ,         Philosophy 

tion  of  the  construction  of  the  doctrinal  system,  which  from  the  in  its  fuii 
synthetical  point  of  view  is  now  complete.  Before,  however,  I 
enter  on  its  analytical  constitution,  it  is  important  to  throw  out 
into  relief  the  threefold  preamble  just  accomplished  by  affixing 
to  it  a  name  adapted  to  remind  us  of  it  as  a  whole.  For  this  we 
may  use  the  expression  First  Philosophy,  limited  by  me  above 
to  the  system  of  the  fifteen  universal  laws,  so  giving  definiteness 
to  the  vague  design  of  Bacon,  after  making  his  aspiration  a 
reality.  Since  this  system  of  laws  is  but  the  intermediate  and 
principal  portion  of  the  basic  introduction  to  the  definitive  co- 
ordiaation  of  the  Positive  doctrine,  the  denomination  which  I 
originally  reserved  for  it,  being  practically  at  liberty,  may  be 
applied  to  the  whole  introduction.  All  that  is  requisite  is  to 
treat  it  as  inseparable  from  the  institution  of  abstraction  on 
which  it  rests  as  its  basis,  and  from  the  hierarchical  construc- 
tion for  which  it  gives  the  basis.  Thus  viewed,  the  First 
Philosophy  forms  a  distinct  and  definite  whole,  a  whole  which 
gives  systematic  form  to  the  subjective  synthesis  idealised  in 
the  worship,  and  which  must  be  our  guide  in  our  objective 
analysis,  to  enable  us  to  develope  the  Positive  doctrine  on  a 
scale  answering  to  its  destination.  I  shall  bring  out  the  impor- 
tance of  this  First  Philosophy  in  the  following  chapter,  by 
making  it  the  object  of  a  special  study  at  the  outset  of  our 
encyclopaedic  education,  where  it  is  our  only  direct  safeguard 
against  degeneration  into  scholastic  puerilities. 

There  is  and  can  be  but  one  svnthetical  arrangement  of  the  Analytical 

^    ^ ,  "  o  form  of  the 

Positive  dogma,  for  such  arrangement  treats  the  several  sciences  dogma  ad- 
as  branches  of  moral  science,  without  ffivinsr  beforehand  any  several  ar- 

'  o  o  J     rangements. 

specific  division,  but  leaving  the  way  open  for  all  suitable  sub- 
divisions. The  contrary  is  trae  of  the  analytical  arrangement ; 
it  admits  of  several  distinct  forms,  according  to  the  degree  of 
connection  we  introduce  between  the  different  terms  of  the 
encyclopasdic  hierarchy.  From  the  objective  point  of  view,  it  is 
not  possible  to  fix  the  number  of  the  sciences,  since  the  generali- 
sation of  thought  is  as  appropriate  for  theory,  as  the  specialisation 
of  action  is  requisite  for  practice.     In  reality  the  name  attached 


Seven 
analytical 


166    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FDTUEE  OF  MAN. 

to  each  science  merely  indicates  the  group  of  investigations 
generally  acknowledged  to  have  a  certain  unity,  and  this  may 
vary  at  different  times  and  for  different  minds.  From  the  sub- 
jective point  of  view',  the  division  of  the  sciences  is  equally 
fluctuating,  as  when  so  considered  it  marks  the  several  resting 
places  of  the  intelligence  in  its  encyclopaedic  course,  and  that 
course  may  always  be  continuous  whatever  the  number  of  its 
stages. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  seven  sciences  which  we  established 
ment?^'  ^^  ^^®  result  of  the  preparatory  evolution  of  the  race,  will  not 
need,  as  a  rule,  subdivision,  when  the  human  mind  has  attained 
greater  power  of  synthesis,  allowing  always  for  educational 
requirements.  At  the  same  time  the  number  is  one  that  will 
always  lend  itself  to  the  establishment  of  a  satisfactory  con- 
tinuity. But  their  hierarchical  combination,  with  the  object  cf 
bringing  objective  analysis  into  closer  relations  with  subjective 
synthesis, — this  admits  of  many  different  forms.  Of  all  the 
forms  possible  in  the  abstract,  I  select  for  present  treatment 
those  only  which  have  a  real  utility  both  for  theory  and 
practice.  The  selection  gives  the  seven  analytical  arrange- 
ments of  the  Positive  sciences,  which  I  proceed  to  explain,  one 
after  the  other,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  derived  from  ths 
synthetical  arrangement  above  examined. 
Two  Bi-  One  and  the  same  subdivision  of  the  synthetical  arrange- 

(a)  Dogma-    mcnt  givos  two  binary  arrangements,  the  one  more  objective 
logy,  sodo-"  and  dogmatical,  the  other  more  subjective  and  historical.     The 
f°)^Histori-    first  sanctions  the  most  marked  distinction  admissible  through- 
Natu- )  Phi-  out  the  whole  range  of  real  investigations,  the  distinction,  that 
MoraiJ  phy!  IS,  between  the  domain  of  the  inorganic  world  and  the  system  of 
the  organic,  in  other  words  between  the  study  of  the  earth  and 
the  study  of  man.  Cosmology  and  Sociology.     In  the  second  we 
break  up  the  one  great  whole  by  separating  the  external  or 
physical   order  from  the   human  or  moral   order;   hence  the 
division  of  the  general  term  philosophy  into  natural  and  moral. 
Thus  the  two  binary  arrangements  of  the  doctrinal  system  of 
Positivism  differ  only  as  to  Biology,  Biology  standing  in  the 
one  case  as  the  introduction  to  Sociology,  in  the  other  as  the 
complement  of  Cosmology.   This  last  conception  best  represents 
the  natural  course  of  scientific  education,  the  other  is  the  most 
appropriate  for  our  ultimate  studies,  as  manifesting  the  imprac- 
ticability of  an  objective  synthesis.     If  we  look  to  practica]. 


rial 
order. 

2.  Vital 
order. 

3.  Hu- 
man 

Vorder. 

/I.  Phy- 
sical 
laws. 
2.  Intel, 
lectnal 
laws. 
S.  Moral 

Vlaws, 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  167 

results,  the  two  modes  have  distinct  yet  equivalent  merits.  We 
find  that  the  historical  arrangement  fixes  attention  especially 
on  the  highest  kind  of  progress,  by  marking  off  into  a  separate 
class  the  most  modifiable  phenomena,  those  in  which  invaria- 
bility was  but  of  late  recognition.  The  dogmatical  arrange- 
ment on  the  other  hand  expresses  the  systematisation  of  the 
activity  of  the  Great  Being,  which  consists  in  bringing  all  vital 
power  whatever  to  bear  on  the  modification  of  the  world  of 
pure  matter. 

This  last  dualism  would  seem  as  valuable  as  the  other,  yet  two  Ter- 
it  is  the  other,  as  more  easily  divisible,  to  which  we  have  ,i.' Mate- 
recourse  for  our  ternary  arrangements,  from  which  we  likewise 
draw  the  succeeding  ones.  Subdivide  the  external  order  or  the  «•< 
human  order,  and  the  result  is  two  ternary  arrangements,  each 
endowed  with  important  properties.  The  first  best  gratifies 
the  craving  for  continuity,  as  viewing  the  order  of  the  world 
in  reference  to  the  normal  series — material,  vital,  and  human. 
The  second  is  more  favourable  to  the  dignity  of  our  studies  and 
practical  exertions ;  in  it  the  Positive  hierarchy  is  formed  by 
the  subordination  of  physical  to  intellectual  and  both  to  moral 
laws.  This  last  mode  represents  the  theory  of  the  brain  and 
the  economy  of  Sociocracy,  whereas  the  other  is  the  systematic 
expression  of  the  abstract  evolution  and  the  concrete  series  of 
existences. 

As  the  two  are  of  equal  importance,  it  will  be  often  advisable  two  Qua- 
to  combine  them,  and  form  a  quaternary  arrangement  by  a  sub-  *^™*'^" 
division  of  the  human  order  or  of  the  physical  laws.      This  i.  cosmo- 
mode  was  adopted  in  the  second  volume,  and  makes  Positive  2.  Bioiogy 
philosophy  consist    in   the    normal    hierarchy   of  Cosmology,  i-  Morals, 
Biology,  Sociology,  and  Morals.     It  enables  us  to  state  clearly 
the  main  series  of  the  introductory  sciences,  whilst  not  con- 
cealing the  science  which  is  their  ulterior  object. 

A  second  quaternary  arrangement  may  be  formed  by  the  ^ 

combination  of  each  term  of  the  encyclopaedic  scale  with  its  The  three 

^        ^  PI  couples  with 

successor,  so  that  we  rise  to  Morals  by  a  progression  formed  of  Morals  as 

•^        ■*■       °  their  crown, 

three  couples,  inferior,  middle,  and  superior.    This  mode  was  in- 
troduced in  my  discourse  upon  the  Positive  spirit,  and  represents  Prefixed  to 
the  closest  degree  of  connection  which  exists  between  the  several  Popuhure. 
branches  of  science,  since  each  of  the  preliminary  sciences  is 
more  nearly  connected  with  the  one  that  precedes  it  than  with 
the  one  that  follows  it,  as  is  shown  by  the  order  of  their  genesis. 


168    SYSTEM  OP  POSITITE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN, 


One  Qui- 
nary. 

1.  Mathe- 
matics. 

2.  Pljysics. 

3.  Biology. 

4.  Sociolo- 
gy. 

I.  Morals. 


Best  of  the 
chatpter  less 
general, 
elaborating 
the  hierar- 
chy of  the 
seven  scien- 
ces. 


Only  one  quinary  arrangement  is  admissible,  drawn  from 
the  first  quaternary  arrangement  by  breaking  up  its  first  term, 
on  the  basis  of  the  distinction  between  Mathematics  and 
Physics  as  a  whole.  Although  this  mode,  which  is  at  once  his- 
torical and  dogmatical,  is  less  convenient  for  our  liltimate  inves- 
tigations than  for  systematic  education,  it  has  this  advantage, 
that  it  begins  the  encyclopaedic  series  with  that  branch  of 
study  which  is  directly  accessible.  At  this  point,  however,  our 
objective  analysis  immediately  tends  to  full  completeness  ;  to 
return,  that  is,  by  virtue  of  the  twofold  subdivision  of  physics  to 
the  primary  arrangement  of  the  scale,  the  only  one  admitting 
of  satisfactory  continuity. 

Such,  amid  the  possible  analytical  arrangements,  are  the 
seven  by  which  we  bridge  over  the  space  between  the  complete 
developement  of  the  encyclopaedic  series,  and  the  systematic 
unity  which  it  is  the  object  of  that  series  to  promote  or  to 
prepare.  Apply  them  and  compare  them,  and  we  shall  feel 
more  fully  the  value  of  the  subjective  synthesis,  which  alone 
■combines  in  itself  all  the  several  excellences  of  the  various 
stages  of  the  objective  analysis.  The  comparison  wiU  at  the 
same  time  evidence  the  main  advantages  of  the  Positive  scale, 
which,  in  a  more  or  less  developed  form,  suffices  for  all  our 
intellectual  wants. 

To  complete  the  systematisation  of  the  doctrine,  the 
remainder  of  the  chapter  must  be  devoted  to  less  general  con- 
siderations, to  such  an  elaboration  of  the  basic  hierarchy  of  the 
sciences  as  may  make  it  an  adequate  expression  of  the  order  of 
the  world.  Each  of  the  seven  sciences  which  it  establishes, 
will  always  form  a  distinct  branch  of  human  study,  an  object 
for  the  speculative  and  practical  reason  of  man,  first  during  the 
period  of  education,  and  subsequently  even  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  normal  existence.  The  maintenance  of  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  sciences  is  the  condition  on  which  the 
objective  analysis  secures  for  the  subjective  synthesis  its  requisite 
clearness  and  coherence.  But  as  these  distinct  sciences  always 
tend  to  divert  attention  from  the  general  unity,  it  is  important 
to  reduce  them  within  the  narrowest  possible  Hmits,  according 
to  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  first  volume  of  this  work.  All  I  have 
to  do  here  is  to  explain  the  agreement  which  necessarily  exists 
between  this  law  of  restriction  and  all  the  grounds  on  which  we 
properly  and  persistently  eliminate  all  idle  speculations. 


Chap.  IU.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  169 

Our  aims  in  studying  the  order  of  the  world  are  a  noble  Eaohessen- 
submission  to,  and  a  wise  modification  of,  that  order ;,  we  must  theunlTOreai 
therefore  examine,  singly  and  by  itself,  each  of  its  independent  bLepSiy 
phases,  the   phases   which,  following   one   another   in   regular  invaria- 
succession,  result  in  a  relative,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  absolute,  an  Muctive 
conception  of  the  whole.     Nor  is  such  a  separation  indispensable  ''™'''P'^- 
merely  to  satisfy  om*  unintermitting  need  of  speculation  and  of 
action,  it  is  the  sole  condition  of  our  attaining   an  adequate 
conviction    of  the    great   primary   principle   of    invariability. 
For  that  principle  will  never  admit  of  deductive  demonstration, 
inasmuch  as  by  its  nature  it  is  itself  the  common  basis  of  all 
Positive  deductions.      It  will  always  rest  on  convictions  of  an 
essentially   inductive    character,  convictions    therefore    to    be 
formed  separately  for  each  distinct   class  of  irreducible  phe- 
nomena.    Allow  its  full  power  to  philosophic  analogy,  and  yet 
,  the  whole  course  of  our  scientific  initiation  shows  that  human 
reason  persists  in  not  recognising  the  universal  applicability  of 
the  Positive  principle,  so  long  as  it   has  not  in  detail  been 
applied  to  each  and  all  of  the  natm-al  categories.     Scientific 
prejudices   notwithstanding,  it   is   possible,   and  that   without 
inconsistency,  to  consider  phenomena  as  generally  and  in  large 
majority  subject  to  immutable  laws,  whilst  one  exceptional  class 
is  left  alone  under  the  dominion  of  arbitrary  wills.     This  is  a 
state  of  mind  which  is  not  removed  by  virtue  of  the  real  connec- 
tion which  exists  between  the  different  laws,  for  such  connection 
is  traceable  only  when  the  several  laws  have  been  separately 
recognised ;    its  removal  can  only  be  the  result  of  a  direct  and 
special  extension  of  the  Positive  principle  to  each  distinct  pro- 
vince of  the  domain  of  science. 

It  is  concrete  knowledge  alone  that  admits  of  a  really  de-  ^ow  inva- 

"^  ^  liability  IS 

duetive  demonstration  of  the  principle  of  invariability,  nay,  madecom- 
without  deduction  we  were  here  powerless  to  conceive  it  as  general. 
applicable,  for  we  shall  never. know  the  greater  part  of  the  laws 
proper  to  complex  events.     But  as  these  depend  of  necessity 
upon  the  simple  phenomena,  we  are  warranted  in  looking  on 
them  as  being,  equally  with  those  simple  phenomena,  subject 
to  the  Positive  principle,  although  the  difficulty  of  the  induc- 
tions and  deductions  is  so  great,  that  we  cannot  in  regard  to 
them  carry  it  out  in  detail.     From  this  point  of  view  the  word 
chance  no  longer  stands  for  the  empire  of  caprice ;  it  comes  to  chance  and 
be  simply  the  general  designation  for  the  laws  which  we  do  not 


170    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Destiny, 


However 
necessary, 
the  study  of 
the  seven 
sciences  has 
its  dangers. 


These  dan- 
gers, how 
averted. 


(i)  During 
the  period  of 
Education, 


(ii)  During 
active  life. 


know, — destiny  being  the  term  -which  sums  up  the  laws  we 
do  know.  The  distinction  is  one  which  requires  appropriate 
names,  since  our  ignorance  of  relations  is  equivalent  to  their 
non-existence,  as  equally  in  either  case  we  can  form  no  pre- 
vision with  a  view  to  action.  Still,  philosophically  considered, 
this  mental  attitude,  though  never  to  cease,  is  no  obstacle  to 
the  complete  generalisation  of  the  Positive  principle  when 
once  verified  in  detail  in  all  the  separate  classes  of  irreducible 
phenomena. 

Nothing,  then,  can  ever  supersede  the  necessity  for  the 
individual  to  acquire  successively,  as  the  race  has  acquired,  the 
knowledge  of  each  of  the  seven  phases  which  meet  him  in  the 
relative  conception  of  the  order  of  the  world.  It  is  only  by  the 
aid  of  this  series  that  the  fundamental  invariability  can  attain 
the  degree  of  coherence  and  precision  required  to  give  it  its 
full  value  for  the  intelligence,  its  full  influence  on  the  moral 
nature.  But  the  course  is  one  which  risks  the  narrowing  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  withering  of  the  heart,  as  it  diverts  us  from 
our  true  object,  synthesis,  by  concentrating  our  powers  on  analy- 
sis. The  risk  is  the  greater  as  the  larger  portion  of  the 
noviciate  of  seven  years  is  taken  up  by  natural  philosophy,  the 
two  last  years  only  being  devoted  to  the  human  order.  The 
normal  state  however  offers  on  this  head  satisfactory  safeguards, 
safeguards  both  of  instinct  and  of  reason,  as  well  during  the 
period  of  education  as  throughout  our  whole  subsequent  Ufe. 

Our  abstract  training  does  not  begin  tUl  after  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  affections  under  the  mother's  watchful  eye  and 
with  an  admixture  of  esthetic  culture.  The  first  step  m  it  is 
the  study,  above  explained,  of  the  First  Philosophy,  with  its 
systematic  preference  and  inculcation  of  the  spirit  of  synthesis 
and  of  a  social  purpose.  Throughout  the  course  of  scientific 
education,  the  influence  of  the  worship,  public  and  private, 
tends  to  prevent  or  to  remedy  deterioration  from  excess  of 
intellectual  culture.  This  threefold  guarantee  ought  to  suffice 
for  the  period  of  education  in  the  strict  sense  ;  as  the  natm-al 
dominion  of  feeling  is  not  as  yet  distm-bed  by  the  cares  of  life. 
With  regard  to  adult  life  the  remedy,  even  with  the  theoretic 
class,  lies  in  the  persistent  recognition  of  a  paramount  social 
purpose.  Absorption  in  science  will  be  looked  upon  as  ex- 
clusively conflned  to  the  childhood  of  the  individual,  or  the 
race,  and  held  unworthy  of  human  reason  in  its  maturity.    The 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  171 

care  of  the  priesthood  and  the  vigilance  of  the  public  -will 
save  those,  in  whom  inferiority  of  intellect  is  combined  with 
poverty  of  feeling,  from  an  aberration  inconceivable  in  superior 
natures. 

Without  this  system  of  safeguards,  it  were  impossible  for  inMieotuai 

_  n        t  y^  T-t     •  Bud,  JriiySiC8il 

the  servants  oi  the  Grreat  Being  to  pass  with  success  throuffh  laws  the 

chief  object 

the  full  scientific  preparation  requisite  for  the  Positive  state,  oi  om  ab- 

Btract  initia- 

Throughout  the  initiation  of  the  race,  man  found  in  his  absolute  tion. 
beliefs  a  natural  means  of  meeting  his  permanent  need  of  some 
independent  and  superior  power  to  which  his  existence  is  sub- 
ordinated. But  the  new  Synthesis,  a  relative,  not  absolute 
synthesis,  can  meet  this  want  only  by  implanting  a  deep  sense 
of  the  order  of  the  world,  the  comprehension  of  which  is,  if 
traced  to  its  root,  based  on  experience,  and  only  rises  into 
unassailable  conviction  after  a  halt  of  sufficient  length  before 
each  distinct  group  of  phenomena  to  be  comprehended.  In 
fact,  the  fundamental  dogma  of  Humanity  even  when  set 
forth  at  large  in  the  worship  can  give  full  expression  only  to 
moral  laws;  is  inadequate  to  present  intellectual,  and  a 
fortiori,  physical,  laws.  It  follows  that  these  two  become  the 
principal  object  of  the  abstract  scientific  initiation,  which  will 
lead  us,  step  by  step,  to  conceive  of  the  Great  Being  as  the 
indispensable  condensation  of  the  order  in  which  it  holds  the 
highest  place. 

But,  however  necessary  the  preparation  maybe:  notwith-  study  ot 

'^  ■*■       *  •^  each  science 

standing  the  precautions    calculated  to  guard  us  against  its  umiteaby 

or  o  a  therequire- 

abuse  :  such  is  the  weakness  of  our  intelligence  that  we  shall  mmta  ot  the 

°  next  above 

ever  be  liable  to  neglect  the  end  m  our  attention  to  the  means,  it,  in  order 

.  to  avoid  ex- 

from  our  inability  to  keep  the  combination  of  the  two  sufficiently  cess  ot  devo- 
in  mind.  The  danger  is  the  more  urgent,  that  abstract  thought,  science. 
though  after  a  certain  training  easier  than  concrete,  is  less  in 
unison  with  our  nature  and  exacts  greater  efforts,  whilst  de- 
manding more  complete  isolation.  Therefore  it  is  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  restrict,  within  the  narrowest  possible 
bounds,  the  natural  prevalence  of  scientific  concentration  during 
the  age  of  preparation,  and  later,  to  limit  analytical  work  to 
the  episodic  efforts  required  to  meet  the  wants  of  synthesis. 
Far  from  any  exceptional  indulgence  to  the  priesthood  on  this 
point,  it  is  for  the  priesthood  especially,  as  alone  unremittingly 
concentrated  on  the  sum  of  human  wants,  to  assert  for  all, 
and  for  its  own  members  before  all,  the  paramount  importance 


172    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Such  study 
sufficient  for 
human  life. 
Incidental 
researches 
allowed  for. 


Tendency 
hitherto  to 
accept  such 
limitation. 


of  religious  discipline.  It  attains  this  end  by  limiting  the 
separate  and  special  cultivation  of  each  preliminary  science, 
not  excepting  Sociology,  to  what  is  required  for  the  systema- 
tic treatment  of  the  succeeding  science,  in  order  to  rise  or  to 
return,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  the  ultimate  science — to  Morals. 

In  accordance  with  this  rule,  the  relative  conception  of  the 
order  of  the  world  is  drawn  out,  step  by  step,  as  fully  as  its  true 
destination  enjoins.  For,  granting  each  category  so  studied 
as  to  enable  us  to  enter  on  the  rational  study  of  the  next,  that 
portion  of  the  economy  of  nature  with  which  it  deals,  is,  by 
virtue  of  this  result,  sufficiently  known.  In  this  series  of  pre- 
parations, our  sole  aim  should  be,  so  to  grasp  the  whole  of  the 
destinies  which  rule  us,  as  to  be  able  to  appreciate  the  con- 
nection, both  general  and  special,  of  our  existence  with  the 
system  of  the  world  which  it  is  their  commission  from  the  Grreat 
Being  constantly  to  amend.  Now,  the  condition  here  stated  is 
met,  when  the  dogma  of  Humanity,  which  feeling  and  the 
worship  present  to  us  at  first  as  isolated,  becomes  the  rational 
condensation  of  the  whole  economy  of  nature,  as  the  result  of 
our  gradual  ascent  from  the  lowest  phenomena  towards  the 
noblest.  If  carried  further,  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect 
inevitably  becomes  a  mere  idle  amusement,  and  is  exposed  to 
indefinite  divergence,  giving  room  for  an  insurrection  of  ob- 
jective analysis  against  the  subjective  synthesis  which  it  ought 
to  promote.  But  the  state  of  pure  speculation  is  blameable 
only  when  it  becomes  persistent,  as  it  is  under  the  dispersive 
regime  of  the  Western  transition.  Eeligious  discipline  will 
always  sanction  the  incidental  enquiries  called  for  in  particular 
cases  by  the  ever  present  demands  of  universal  advance,  moral, 
intellectual,  or  physical. 

In  introducing  this  system  of  intellectual  cultivation, 
Positive  religion  is  really  only  giving  regular  expression  to  the 
tendencies  which  the  reason  of  man  always  instinctively  obeyed, 
when  as  yet  the  education  of  its  powers  was  incomplete.  Whilst 
the  lower  sciences  were  being  elaborated,  the  more  eminent 
men  of  science  always  felt  that,  normally,  the  moral  domain  was 
supreme,  though  its  systematic  study  was  as  yet  prematui-e. 
From  a  dim  but  strong  instinct,  the  speculations  most  remote 
from  man  were  pui'sued  as  a  preparation  for  the  doctrines  and 
the  methods  adapted  to  the  highest  branch  of  knowledge,  the 
study  of  which  led  often  to  admirable  unsuccessful  attempts. 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINS.  173 

This  accounts  for  the  non-discovery  of  the  more  important 
conceptions,  even  in  the  lowest  pair  of  sciences,  prior  to  the 
time  when  the  wants  of  society  demanded  their  definitive  elabora- 
tion, a  point  I  distinctly  proved  in  the  preceding  volume  with 
regard  to  the  earth's  motion.  So  also  we  explain  the  continuous 
decrease  in  the  length  of  the  several  encyclopaedic  phases,  in 
proportion  as  they  approach  their  terminus,  man ;  and  this 
notwithstanding  that,  at  that  point,  the  domain  of  speculation 
becomes  larger  and  more  difficult.  Thus  the  limitation  of  each 
phase  to  what  is  required  for  the  introduction  of  its  successor,  is 
as  thoroughly  in  conformity  with  experience  as  with  reason  acting 
on  the  inspiration  of  feeling.  The  temporary  prevalence  of 
academic  divergences  was  due  solely  to  our  modern  anarchy, 
committing  as  it  did  the  cultivation  of  the  lower  sciences  to 
men  incompetent  to  work  out  the  higher  subjects. 

Thus,  the  discipline  of  science  which  Positivism  establishes,  PosiUviim 
is  simply  the  systematisation  of  the  instinct  which  guided  all  tusinstinot. 
true  thinkers  more  and  more  during  the  thirty  centuries  of  the  tte  taskf  ° 
Western  transition.  But  such  is  the  difficulty  attendant  on  this 
systematisation,  that  it  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  a  circle 
without  issue.  For  the  rule  which  limits  the  proper  culture  of 
each  science  to  the  degi'ee  required  for  the  rational  study  of  the 
next  in  succession,  must  wait  for  its  full  efficacy  till  the  com- 
pletion of  the  encyclopaedic  course,  as  then  only  is  it  possible  to 
construct  the  ultimate  science,  the  science  from  which  all  disci- 
pline must  emanate.  Now,  on  the  other  hand,  this  last  and 
decisive  step  is  beyond  the  competence  of  minds  swayed  by  the 
habits  of  divergence  instilled  by  the  special  cultivation  of  the 
preliminary  sciences.  The  only  possible  escape  from  these  con- 
flicting difficulties  was  the  reaction  in  favour  of  synthesis,  which 
sprang  from  the  social  convulsion  in  which  Positivism  origi- 
nated. It  was  but  natural  then,  that  the  new  philosophy  and 
the  religion  of  Humanity  should  take  their  rise  in  France, 
as  the  central  seat,  by  virtue  of  the  whole  of  the  past,  of  the 
ultimate  crisis.  From  their  not  feeling  this  connection,  most  of 
those  who  at  the  present  day  recognise  the  intellectual  benefits 
of  Positivism,  are  guilty  of  grave  inconsistency  in  blaming  me 
for  making  it  inseparable  from  its  social  mission,  to  which  alone 
its  advent  is  attributable. 

The   relation   in  which   the    sciences   thus  normally  stand  ^na1^n"'to 
to  one  another    is  the  indispensable  condition  of  their  being  speoiausa- 


174   SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


tjon  both 
among 
theoricians 
and  practi- 
cians. 


Synthetic 
discipline 
may  be 
made  to  pre- 
vail by  in- 
voking Hu- 
manity. 


The  philoso- 
phical trea- 
tise? neces- 
sary to  in- 
anp^urate 
this  disci- 
pline. 


Seven  in 
number. 


brought  under  discipline,  nor  will  it  ever  cease  to  corroborate 
and  extend  that  discipline.  The  reasonableness  of  the  rule  is 
indisputable ;  yet  as  mediocrity  of  intellect  will  always  be  the 
prevailing  type  in  the  theoretical  class,  there  will  ever  be  an 
instinctive  leaning  to  the  specialisation  of  science,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  efforts  imposed  by  synthetical  meditation.  The 
danger  of  this  tendency  is  the  greater  from  its  being  in  unison 
with  the  habits  universally  formed  by  practical  Ufe.  In  assu- 
ming the  industrial  form,  action  loses  the  synthetical  character 
which  it  had  in  the  military  period.  Industrial  life  confines 
our  conceptions  of  a  whole  to  operations  on  a  very  limited  scale ; 
any  really  general  views  are  the  exclusive  appurtenance  of  the 
priesthood ;  a  circumstance,  however,  not  without  its  advan- 
tages, as  it  offers  the  best  security  for  the  normal  separation  of 
the  two  powers.  But  the  reception,  by  all  without  exception,  of 
the  encyclopsedic  education, — this  will  act  as  a  counterbalance 
to  industrial  specialisation,  and  check  the  divergent  tendencies 
of  commonplace  theoricians.  All  comprehensiveness  in  thought 
is,  as  generosity  of  feelings,  a  pleasure  even  to  those  who  are 
aware  that  it  is  beyond  them. 

It  will  always  be  possible  then  to  secure  the  acceptance  of 
discipline  by  synthesis  as  against  the  disposition  to  analysis,  by 
appealing,  in  the  name  of  the  Grreat  Being,  to  the  moral  and 
social  reasons  for  its  original  institution.  But,  although  in 
principle  it  seems  solely  a  question  of  doctrine,  all  the  consti- 
tuents of  the  Positive  state  will  combine  to  develope  it  and  to 
strengthen  it.  The  worship  will  lead  us  to  it  by  its  evocation 
of  our  sympathies ;  and  the  regime  will  give  it  a  stronger  hold 
as  a  result  of  the  system  of  precautions  to  be  explained  in  the 
following  chapter. 

The  inauguration  of  this  discipline  necessitates  some  ency- 
clopsedic efforts,  efforts,  be  it  remembered,  of  permanent  utiUty 
for  the  education  which  is  to  be  universal.  They  must  consist 
in  the  production  of  types  of  the  true  intellectual  state ;  in  the 
construction,  that  is,  for  each  distinct  branch  of  real  speculation, 
of  a  philosophical  treatise,  presenting  its  particular  science  re- 
duced to  its  normal  limits,  and  duly  incorporated  into  the 
religion  of  Humanity.  Vast  and  difficult  as  such  a  construction 
may  appear,  it  may  be  condensed  into  seven  volumes,  the  books 
in  habitual  use  by  the  priesthood  and  the  public. 

My  career  is  too  far  advanced  for  me  to  be  able  to  execute 


Chap,  m.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  175 

in  all  its  completeness  this  capital  elaboration  of  the  doctrinal  The  sooio- 
system  of  Positivism ;    I  must  limit  myself  to  giving  a  clear  tiStonisiT- 
idea  of  it.     The  two  preceding  volumes  have  done  the  work  u!ana™i!' 
adequately,  so  far  as  regards  the  last  of  the  preliminary  sciences, 
for  they  are  a  systematic  exposition  of  Sociology,  on  the  basis 
laid  in  the  Fhilosophie.    Of  the  three  works  which  are  to  follow  Three  new 
the  present,  two  are  meant  to  be  analogous  constructions  for  the  aimomced, 
two  extreme  sciences  of  the  Positive  series,  and  will  systematise,  thematot 
the  first,  Mathematics ;  the  second.  Morals.     The  renovation  of  Ss,The'°" 
the  intermediate  sciences,  by  a  synthetical  treatment,  has  been  served?' 
satisfactorily  explained  in  the  first  volume  of  this  work,  more 
particularly  as  regards  Biology.     Enough  then  if  I  now  give  a 
sketch  of  the  wpenpjus  or  the  summaries,  corresponding  to  this 
systematic  comprehension  of  the  whole  range  of  the  intellect, 
adopting  the  encyclopaedic  order. 

In  Cosmology — more  than  elsewhere — it  is  important  to  cosmology 
inaugurate  the  subjective  synthesis,  as  it  is  in  Cosmology  that  iequtethe 
objective  analysis  has  most  consistency,  nay  most  dignity.  syntSb^ 
"When  we  enter  on  the  study  of  vital  phenomena,  the  indivisi-  trary^ten-' 
bility  which  is  the  normal  characteristic  of  all  real  investiga-  nSah  ^° ' 
tions,  so  forces  itself  upon  the  attention  that,  in  spite  of  the 
existing  anarchy,  the  most  ordinary  thinkers  are  found  always 
open  to  systematic  suggestions.  For  in  Biology  we  are  too  near 
the  terminus  of  speculation,  man,  to  ignore  or  despise  the  true 
aim  of  Positive  theories,  each  problem  soon  tending  to  evidence 
the  irrationality  of  all  conceptions  from  which  this  aim  is 
eliminated.  "Whereas  the  domain  of  inorganic  matter  may  be 
kept  so  perfectly  distinct  as  a  study,  that  sound  speculations 
could  be  entered  upon  and  accepted  within  its  limits,  whilst  in 
all  the  other  departments  of  human  thought,  the  fictions  of 
Theology  maintained  undisputed  empire.  Man  is,  it  is  true, 
by  his  constitution,  subject  to  all  the  laws,  without  exception, 
of  the  material  world,  but  the  search  after  these  laws  has  no 
immediate  reference  to  man  ;  it  is  always  confined  to  some  part 
or  other  of  his  environment.  Over  and  above  our  need  of  the 
knowledge  of  this  milieu,  if  success  is  to  be  attained  in  cosmo- 
logieal  researches,  it  is  requisite  that  we  pursue  them  in  regard 
to  the  simpler  cases,  even  when  the  results  have  reference 
exclusively  to  the  more  complex.  Further,  the  study  of  matter 
is  favourable  to  dispersion,  as  dealing  with  an  existence  without 
unity,  in  a  milieu  which  as  a  whole  is  beyond  our  grasp. 


176   SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVJi;  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

Futility  of.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  great    persistence  of  the 

synthesis  analytical  regime  in  the  study  of  the  material  world,  even  with 
recognised  eminent  thinkers  who  would  never  have  endured  it  in  other 
human  branches  of  enquiry.  And  the  same  result  would  reciu:  in  the 
view  to  pre-  study,  if,  from  inattention  on  the  part  of  the  priesthood  and  the 
public,  it  were  ever  again  to  be  exclusively  pursued.  Events  in 
which  man  is  directly  a  simple  spectator,  will  always  offer  scope 
for  the  aberrations  of  theoricians,  alarmed  at  the  continuity  of 
exertion  demanded  by  the  subjection  of  all  phenomena  to  the 
subjective  method.  The  futility  of  an  objective  synthesis  is 
however  by  this  time  so  freely  admitted,  that  true  thinkers  may 
accept,  in  Cosmology,  the  human  point  of  view  as  paramount,  as 
alone  adapted  to  connect  everything.  The  divergence  natural  to^ 
this  department  of  science  has  gone  so  far,  since  the  old  discipline 
succumbed  to  the  anarchy  of  scientific  academies,  that  its  need 
of  coordination,  nay  even  of  elimination,  becomes  undeniable. 
Appealing  nobly  to  moral  and  social  considerations,  the  priest- 
hood of  Positivism  will  find  it  no  diflScult  task  to  secure 
general  respect  and  love  for  the  only  system  capable  of  pro- 
tecting the  feeble  powers  of  our  intelligence  from  being  wasted 
on  puerile  investigations.  AU  that  is  required  is  that  the 
rationality,  as  well  as  the  dignity,  of  our  abstract  enquiries,  be 
always  vindicated,  as  a  result  of  the  definitive  fusion  of  science 
in  religion. 

The  attainment  of  this  result  is  the  great  aim  of  the  several 
works  above  mentioned,  and  the  accomplishment  of  which  is  in 
the  main  reserved  for  my  successors.  Taking  the  most  critical 
for  myself,  I  hope  soon  to  show  to  what  an  extent  mathematical 
science,  grown  almost  out  of  our  grasp  as  a  whole,  gains  in 
coherence  and  dignity,  under  the  synthetical  discipline  insti- 
tuted by  the  Positive  religion.  For  the  present,  I  must  limit 
myself  to  some  hints  bearing  on  this  typical  result,  whilst  1 
explain  the  plan  and  the  general  spirit  of  my  next  treatise. 
TheMathe-  A    single  volumc  will  suJBBce   for  this  work;    originally  I 

thesis,  in^  thought  it  would  require  two,  an  abstract  and  a  concrete 
volume,  when  I  announced  it  in  1842  at  the  end  of  my  Philo- 
sophy, and  even  when  I  repeated  the  promise  in  1851  in  the 
general  preface  of  the  present  work.  So  decided  a  condensa- 
tion will  scarcely  surprise  those  who  can  appreciate  the  synthe- 
tical determination  indicated  at  the  opening  of  the  construction 
I  am   now  ending — the  determination   to  make  the   modern 


one  Tolume. 


"Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  177 

•calculus  a  component  part  Of  general  geometry.   By  carrying  out 
this  project,  the  new  volume,  which  I  hope  to  publish  before  the  pubUshea 
•end  of  1856,  wiU  definitively  systematise  the  philosophy  of  Ma-  terTisse!" 
thematics.     Between  a  religious  introduction  and  a  synthetical  component 
conclusion,  seven  chapters  will  put  into  their  proper  shape  the  work." 
calculus,  arithmetical  and  algebraic ;    preliminary  geometry ; 
algebraic  geometry  ;  differential  geometry ;  integral  geometry ; 
and  general  mechanics.     The  title  of  this  forthcoming  work, 
*  System  of    Positive  Logic,'    or  '  Treatise  of   Mathematical 
Philosophy,'  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  express  its  chief  object, 
which  I  proceed  summarily  to  explain. 

That  object  is  a  deduction  from  the  natural  combination  of  object  of 
-two   aphorisms,  both  indisputable:    the  study  of  methods  is  toexhiwt 
inseparable  from  that  of  the  doctrines ;    all  important  observa-  lawa  of 
tions  must  be  shown  to  hold  in  the  simplest  cases.    Combine  these 
two  principles  and  the  practical  inference  is  that  the  general 
laws  of  the  reasoning  process  are  best  traced  in  the  abstract  study 
of  the  form  of  existence  common  to  all  objects  equally — the  form 
in  which  existence  is  reduced  to  its  simplest  attributes,  number, 
extension,  motion.    Although  this  systematic  delimitation  of  the  vol  i, 
province  of  Mathematics  is  exclusively  due  to  Positivism,  yet  '" 
the  confusion  indicated  by  its  plural  name  has  never  concealed 
the  fact,  that  the  initial  science  alone  is  sufficiently  simple  in 
character  to  be  suited  to  the  exposition  of  these  laws. 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  by  thus  simplifying  in  the  The  higher 
highest  degree  the  speculations   of  Positive  Mathematics,  we  cesses 
preclude  ourselves  from  finding  in  them  well-marked  types  of  derived  from 
all  the  processes  of  logic,  several  of   which   seem  exclusively  tics  may  be 
reserved  for  the  higher  studies.     Alarm  may  be  felt,  lest  the  by  them. 
field  of  Mathematics  be  sufficient  only  as  regards  deduction  and 
coordination,  the   two    processes   spontaneously   developed    in 
Mathematics,  with   a  perfection   thought   to    be   unattainable 
elsewhere.    Induction  and  generalisation — these,  it  would  appear, 
can  be  satisfactorily  appreciated  only  in  the  departments  in 
which  their  several  forms  successively  had  their  origin.     But, 
in  establishing  the  normal  state,  we  must  not  rest  in  the  blind 
repetition  of  the  course  followed  during  the  preparatory  period. 
Those  on  whom  the  Great  Being  devolves  the  task  of  trans- 
mitting to  all  its  servants  the  general  results  of  the  intellectual 
developement  of  the  race,  must   more  and  more  emancipate 
themselves  from  the  obligations  which  were  binding  during  the 

VOL.  IV.  N 


178    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

original  movement.  There  is  coming  forward  an  increasing- 
difference  between  the  dogmatic  exposition  and  the  historical 
creation,  as  human  thought  becomes  more  synthetical ;  as  has 
long  been  traceable  in  mathematical  teaching,  notwithstanding 
its  extreme  imperfection.  Whilst  bound  ever  to  respect  the 
natural  correspondence  between  the  education  of  the  individual 
and  the  evolution  of  the  race,  the  intrinsic  uniformity  of  the 
Positive  method  enables  us  to  introduce  its  leading  artifices  in 
simpler  sciences  than  those  which  originally  gave  them  birth. 
Au  the  logi-  In  a  special  treatise,  '  Analytical  Geometry,'  I  have  alreadv 

oal  processes  -^  in-     i 

found  in        showu  that  it  is  possible  m  Mathematics  to  teach  that  branch  of 

Mathema-  •         n       i  t  t  •    t 

tics.  inductive  logic  which  seems  most  peculiar  to  biology,  viz.,  the 

comparative  method  and  the  theory  of  taxonomy.  Its  two 
capital  forms,  the  formation  of  natural  groups,  and  even  the 
institution  of  hierarchical  series,  are  perfectly  available  for  the 
normal  classification  of  surfaces  from  the  point  of  view  of  their 
generation.  Although  the  simplicity  of  this  particular  case 
naturally  disqualified  it  at  first  for  spontaneously  exhibiting 
these  general  processes,  it  constitutes  a  strong  ground  for 
choosing  it  as  the  proper  place  for  their  systematic  investigation. 
The  capabilities  of  Mathematics  are,  it  is  to  be  noticed,  recog- 
nised as  regards  the  less  eminent  forms  of  inductive  logic, 
observation,  and  even  experiment;  which  find  large  scope  in 
Mathematics,  in  spite  of  the  tendency  of  geometricians  to  look 
on  their  science  as  purely  deductive.  Lastly,  the  most  exalted 
processes,  historical  filiation  and  the  subjective  method,  may 
fitly,  by  virtue  of  their  evidently  universal  applicability,  be 
introduced  into  the  science  of  Mathematics,  and  the  use  of  them 
there  is  decisive  of  the  matter  in  hand. 
TheLogicof  Admit  these  capacities,  however,  and  yet  they  seem  in- 
the  Logic  of  adequate  to  show  the  logical  completeness  of  Mathematics,  if 
well  de-  we  coufront  them  with  the  systematisation  of  Positive  logic 
Mathe-  "  foreshadowed  in  the  first  volume  of  the  present  work.  For,  if 
not  confining  ourselves  to  the  special  processes  of  induction  or 
deduction,  we  press  beyond  to  the  general  means  we  use  for 
contemplation  and  meditation,  the  most  instinctive,  the  most 
ancient,  and  the  most  powerful  of  those  means  seems  to  have 
no  place  in  Mathematics.  Mathematical  speculation  is,  more 
than  any  other,  adapted  to  display  the  logical  power  of  signs, 
and  signs  are  the  chief  resource  to  which  the  prejudices  of  pedants 
would  reduce  us  in  reasoning.    Simultaneously  with  signs,  in  the 


ma  tics. 


Chap.  HI.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  179 

very  first  beginnings  of  Mathematics,  the  use  of  images  is 
spontaneously  introduced.  After  a  long  separate  existence — signs 
prevailing  in  the  calculus,  images  in  geometry — the  final  and 
irrevocable  combination  of  these  two  resources  was  effected  by 
Descartes  in  his  capital  reform  of  mathematical  science.  It  The  Logic  oj 
is  the  only  branch  in  which  the  combination  has  as  yet  been  quMte. 
effected.  But  it  is  an  inadequate  expression  of  the  real  system 
of  Positive  logic,  and  must  remain  so  till  the  influence  of  feeling 
give  completeness  to  the  fusion. 

The  revolution  effected  in  Mathematics  by  the  most  im-  Comte's  tasi 

•   I'll  p  1  T       ^'^  accom- 

portant  of  my  precursors,  carries  with  it,  then,  tor  me,  an  obli-  pUsh  this. 
gation  to  base  the  regeneration  of  science  on  the  power  of 
affection  as  an  intellectual  instrument.  The  combination  thus 
formed  of  signs,  images,  and  feelings,  must,  if  it  is  to  be  de- 
finitive, be  worked  out  in  regard  to  the  simplest  sphere  of 
science,  and  the  one  farthest  removed  from  man.  In  no  other 
way  can  the  pure  reason  be  raised  to  the  level  of  practical 
reason,  for  the  latter  has  always  been  able  without  effort 
to  avail  itself  of  the  above  combination  in  its  concrete  re- 
searches. When  this  has  been  done,  we  shall  have  removed  the 
great  danger  of  abstraction,  and  be  able  to  use  freely  its  in- 
herent powers  for  our  generalisations  and  coordinations,  with- 
out imperilling  the  natural  alliance  of  synthesis  and  sympathy. 
Such  a  regeneration  is  destined  to  be  at  once  the  conse- 
quence and  the  condition  of  the  definitive  fasion  of  science  in 
religion. 

Prior  to  the  publication  of  my  forthcoming  work,  it  is  im-  Tte  task  ao- 
possible  to  judge  a  reform  so  opposed  to  the  actual  tendencies  intiie'Syn- 
of  scientific  men,  nay,  even  of  the  general  public.     But  minds  jective,' 
suitably  disposed  may  even  now  forecast  its  practicability,  guided 
by  the  convergence  of  the  observations  on  this  head  which  have 
found  their  place  in  the  several  volumes  of  the  present  work. 
In  especial,  it  should  be  evidenced  by  a  judicious  combination  Howaccom- 
between  the  ultimate  fusion  of  Fetichism  in  Positivism  and  the 
moral  reaction  of  mathematical  studies. 

Whatever  dryness  it  is  sought  to  retain  in  Mathematics —  (i)  Moiai 

°  .  .    .    .  reactions  of 

the  necessary  commencement  of  rational  Positivity — no  efforts  matiiemati- 

1  •     t    n  I'p  n  1  cal  studies. 

can  prevent  a  healthy  mind  from  drawing  irom  them  deep  and 
salutary  emotions,  as  it  submits  to  the  influence  on  its  affections 
of  a  demonstrated  order.  The  efficacy  of  the  irresistible  convic- 
tions thus  formed,  their  eflScacy  in  raising  and  purifying  our 

N  2 


180   SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAK. 

inclinations,  must  come  to  be  indisputable  even  without  per- 
sonal experience,  for  anyone  who  feels  how  great  need  we  have 
to  subject  ourselves  to  external  laws.     Of  the  three  species  of 
natural  laws,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  the  second  are 
so  suited  to  the  sphere  of  Mathematics  that  it  is  looked  on  as 
not  able  to  admit  others.     This  is  an  unwarrantable  exagge- 
ration, which   disappears  when  we  trace   to  Mathematics,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  origin  of  physical  laws,  especially  in  me- 
chanics, or  even  in  geometry ;  and  when,  on  the  other  hand 
we  see  that  the  laws  of    the  intellect  are   only  unveiled  in 
the  speculations  of  Sociology.     Still,  after  correcting  this  scien- 
tific  prejudice,  we  cannot  but  be  struck   with  the  inherent 
aptitude  of  Mathematics  to  verify  and  give  a  true  conception 
of  intellectual  order.    If  so,  we  feel  that  they  have  a  correspond- 
ing aptitude  to  manifest,  and  even  enlarge  the  sphere  of  moral 
laws,  so  natural  is  the  connection  of  these   last  with  intel- 
lectual laws.     This,  then,  is  the  conception  we  should  form  of 
the  true  aim  of  mathematical  education,  as  furnishing  a  com- 
plete basis  for  the  system atisation  of  Positivism,  a  basis  for 
the  doctrine  no  less  than  for  the  method. 
(2)  Fusion  o£         Humau  reasou  in  its  maturity  will  adopt  Fetichity  as  the 
smdPol™      complement  of  Positivity,  and  by  so  doing  will  open  the  field 
its  results  on  of  mathematical  speculation  to  the  familiar  influence  of  the 
tics.       '     emotions,  inadmissible  at  an  earlier  stage  of  its  culture,  as  it 
was  necessary  to  avoid  the  risk,  the  imminent  risk,  of  pernicious 
illusions.     The  simple  fact  that  Positivism  radically  precludes 
all  objective  error  as  to  causes,  allows  us  without  scruple  to 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  subjective  vitality,  which  we  instinctively 
attribute  to  all  beings  of  whatever  kind.     Far  from  checking 
this  propensity.  Positivism  sanctions  and  gives  it  a  systematic 
direction,  as  a  powerful  aid  not  merely  in  language  and  art, 
but  also  in  thought,  especially  in  abstract  thought,  where  it 
lends  the  image  the  support  of  feeling.     Emancipated  from  the 
prejudices  of  science,  the  Positivist  will  be  more  fetichist  than 
the  Fetichist,  for  he  will  extend  to  phenomena  the  tendency 
which  the  Fetichist  confined  to  bodies.     Enough  if  the  emotions 
we  imagine  have  in  all  cases  a  real  resting-place,  it  is  indif- 
ferent whether  it  be  abstract  or  concrete  ;  the  essential  is  that 
they  be  not  attributed  to  fictitious  beings.     On  this  single  con- 
dition. Positive  reason  is  guaranteed    against  a  relapse  into 
Theology,  and  so  is  free  to  act  on  a  tendency  as  favourable  to 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  181 

the  intellect  as  it  is  to  the  heart.     And  the  regime  here  in-  subjeotiva 

p       •      •     ■      J.T.  ■      media. 

dicated  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  Mathematics,  for  it  is  m  this 
department  that  the  institution  of  subjective  milieus  has  its 
origin,  by  availing  ourselves  of  which  we  shall  be  able  to  ad- 
vance abstraction,  by  endowing  with  life  curves,  and  even 
equations. 

We  have  a  foreshadowing  of  this  ultimate  condition  of  the  '^^^^^^^'^ 
earliest  and    best   cultivated  of   human    speculations   in  the  ^g^*^™**'"^ 
growing  tendency  of  the  most  eminent  mathematicians  to  com-  ^l^jJ'J^f '^^ 
bine  the  cultivation  of  Mathematics  with  their  meditations  on  minds  who 

nave  culti- 

higher  subjects.     In  defiance  of  modern  anarchy,  Descartes  and  J^'Jj*^^" 
Leibnitz  made  it  their  aim  at  one  and  the  same  time  to  advance  neousiywia 

the  superior 

Mathematics  and  to  regenerate  Philosophy.  Their  worthy  sue-  sciences. 
cesser,  Lagrange,  would  have  prolonged  this  noble  spectacle, 
the  scale  of  which  was  always  being  enlarged  from  Thales  to 
Pascal,  had  he  not  confined  his  high  systematic  genius  within 
the  limits  of  Mathematics,  in  the  midst  of  a  demolition  in 
which  it  was  not  for  him  to  take  part.  And  although  such  co-ex- 
istence cannot  take  the  place  of  a  combination,  it  heralds  if 
and  prepares  it,  by  showing  us  the  highest  minds,  and  such 
minds  are  always  favourable  to  scientific  unity,  engaged  in 
cultivating  simultaneously  the  two  extremes  of  the  domain  of 
speculation.  It  cannot  be  that  this  tendency  should  disappear 
at  the  very  time  appointed  for  its  systematisation ;  so  I  have 
ground  for  the  hope  that  my  synthesis  of  Mathematics  will  be 
rejected  only  by  the  geometricians,  or  rather  the  algebraists, 
from  their  incapacity  to  rise  above  the  existing  academical 
regime. 

Unheeding  their  futile  opposition,  I  will  remove  its  only  ^,^^gf^^f" 
plausible  ground  by  the  rejection  in  toto  of  their  troublesome  j.^^jjj™/;^''^- 
claim  to  the  intellectual  presidency.     Since  their  triumph  over  ™™  ^^^^ 
the  physicians,  they   invoke,  utterly  without  justification,  in 
support  of  this  noxious  domination,  the  principle,  in  itself  in- 
disputable, of  generality.     Previous  to  the  advent  of  Positivism 
there  was  no  refuting  the  academical  sophisms  from  the  ina- 
bility to  distinguish   the  two  forms,  objective  and  subjective, 
which  the  rule  may  wear,  and  which  make  it  issue  in  opposite 
modes  of  discipline.     But  since  the  second  volume  of  this  work, 
this  capital  distinction  has  been  too  fully  and  clearly  stated  for 
me  to   dread   any  involuntary  mistakes  on  that  point.     The 
properties  common  to  many  beings  do  not,  by  virtue  of  their 


182    SYSTKM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


The  sim- 
plicity of 
Mathema- 
tics adapts 
them  for  the 


tion  of  Posi- 
tive Logic. 


In  their 
true  place 
they  will 
gain  in  dig- 
nity, as  the 
source  of 
improve- 
ment in  the 
art  of  think- 
ing. 


Syn.  Subj. 
p.  755. 

A  species  of 

universal 

Algebra. 


being  common,  present  difficulties  in  point  of  abstraction ;  on 
the  contrary,  the  study  of  them  is  made  easier  by  this  com- 
munity, as  it  is  an  evidence  of  their  simplicity.  It  is  only 
when  abstraction  has  to  deal  with  very  complicated  notions,  as 
in  the  higher  sciences,  that  by  the  nature  of  the  case  it  in- 
creases the  difficulty  and  the  merit  of  our  inductions,  and  stiU 
more  of  our  deductions,  though  the  objects  which  form 
their  sphere  be  fewer  in  number.  So,  it  is  generality  in  the 
subjective  sense  that  justly  claims  the  intellectual  presidency, 
for  it  is  competent  to  raise  in  Morals,  in  Sociology,  and  even 
in  Biology,  systematic  constructions,  in  utility,  in  difficulty, 
and  even  in  perfection,  surpassing  those  of  Mathematics. 

But  the  incorporation  of  science  with  religion,  by  ensuring 
the  prevalence  of  encyclopaedic  culture,  puts  an  end  once  for 
all  to  discussions  which  depended  for  their  importance  on  the 
regime  of  specialism.  It  is  exclusively  by  virtue  of  their 
greater  simplicity  that  the  domain  of  Mathematics  ofifers  the 
best  field  for  the  developement  of  Positive  logic  in  its  final 
systematic  form.  When  cultivated  in  this  spirit,  there  can  be  no 
revival  of  the  unreasonable  claim  to  precedence  on  the  part  of 
a  science  which,  by  its  very  nature,  is  confined  to  the  most 
elementary  subjects  of  human  contemplation. 

When  restricted  to  its  true  object,  a  logical  rather  than  a 
scientific  one,  this  fundamental  branch  of  science  acquires  a 
dignity  which  it  could  not  have  whilst  vainly  claiming  supre- 
macy. Its  capacity  for  systematising  true  logic  will  be  shown 
more  fully  by  our  drawing  from  it  a  general  improvement  of 
the  art  of  thinking.  This  conclusive  ^sult  of  the  treatise 
under  consideration  will  be  explained  in  detail  in  its  synthe- 
tical conclusion  ;  for  the  present  I  only  anticipate  so  far  as  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  progress  contemplated. 

It  consists  in  the  creation  of  a  species  of  universal  Algebra, 
calculated  to  facilitate  thought,  whatever  be  the  subject  on 
which  thought  is  exercised,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  ordinary 
algebra  facilitates  our  meditations  upon  quantity.  Without  here 
explaining  this  new  algorithm,  I  simply  annoimce  that  it  will 
condense  alphabetic  writing,  as  its  predecessor  condensed 
hieroglyphical  writing.  So  that  the  writing  of  Sociocracy  will 
thus  receive  an  improvement,  the  equivalent  to  that  which 
the  Theocracy  introduced  in  its  writing.  By  such  a  creation 
alone  will  systematic  Positivity  be  able  to  offer,  as  it  comes  to 


•Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTKINB.  183 

embrace  all  departments  of  thought,  resources  no  less  perfect 
ithan  when  confined  to  the  simplest  speculations.     Then,  and  Human  lan- 
then  only,  will  human  language  be  constituted  in  its  normal  pietea.  • 
plenitude,  for  then  only  will   the  signs   which    are  the  best 
medium  for   communication  have   become  the  best  medium  for 
mental  labour. 

In  this  way,  the  losric  of  Mathematics,  made  synthetical  by  scientific 

•"  °  3  J  J     influence  of 

ithe  introduction  of  feeling',  will  in  its  turn  react  upon  the*  Mathematics 

„  T-.  _Li  ■       j_-n       whentliua 

general  advance  of  abstract  reason.  lirom  the  scientmc  renoratea. 
point  of  view,  the  definitive  systematisation  of  the  first  step  in 
iihe  abstract  encyclopedia,  carries  with  it  results  of  equal  im- 
portance, as  it  gives  us  an  elementaiy  general  conception  of  the 
whole  order  of  things,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical.  This 
iiriple  system  of  laws  will  consequently  find  recognition,  not 
imerely  as  regards  the  study  of  motion,  but  also  in  that  of 
extension,  and  even  of  number,  on  the  ground  of  the  necessary 
relation  between  the  object  and  the  subject,  a  relation  more 
appreciable  in  the  more  simple  abstraction.  The  earliest  phase 
of  our  initiation  in  science  will  thus  elicit  from  the  doctrine  a 
moral  infiuence  of  a  kind  to  complete  that  derived  from  the 
worship,  more  particularly  from  the  personal  worship.  In  fact 
the  worship  developes  the  fundamental  instinct  of  veneration, 
Tsy  its  accustoming  us  to  be  fond  of  order :  of  order  imposed 
Tjy  will ;  of  order  of  our  own  institution ;  of  order  enforced 
by  external  necessity.  Now  the  synthesis  of  Mathematics 
should  exercise  an  equivalent  influence,  with  the  terms  of  the 
progression  inverted.  Although  this  reversed  course  is  less  pure 
and  less  noble,  it  forms  irresistible  convictions,  which  tend  to 
consolidate  the  discipline  arising  from  the  worship,  as  they 
bring  with  them  a  profound  sense  of  the  value  of  this  threefold 
submission,  which  thenceforth  is  as  precious  in  the  eye  of 
reason  as  of  feeling. 

The  proximate  publication  of  the  work,  the   character  of  °°^^]°^^«j. 
which  I  have  been  explaining,  left  it  still  incumbent  on  me  to  ^^^^ 
point  out  here  the  nature  and  the  object  of  the  first  of  the  seven  synthesis. 
volumes,  constituting  the  '  Abstract  Encyclopcedia,'  which  is  to 
condense  the  definitive  system  of  the  Positive  doctrine.      The 
foundation  once  duly  laid  by  the  execution  of  this  volume,  it 
will  be  impossible   any  longer  to   dispute  the  feasibility  of 
reducing  the  normal  exposition  of  true  science  to  seven  volumes, 
each  volume  devoted  to  one  of  the  seven  sciences  of  the  ency- 


184    SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


This  realised 
by  few  tiU 
the  task  is 
accom- 
plished. 


Condensa- 
tion of  Cos- 
mology. 


Second 

Volume. 

Astronomy. 


clopsedic  hierarchy,  each  also  composed  of  seven  chapters.  Ore 
comparing  the  volume  on  Mathematics  with  the  mathematical! 
phase  of  Positive  education,  as  laid  down  in  the  plan  given  in  the 
'  General  View,'  there  may  seem  reason  to  fear  that  so  short  a 
book  will  be  insufficient  for  such  a  science.  For  each  chapter  of 
the  mathematical  synthesis  offers,  on  an  average,  a  condensation 
three  times  as  great  as  that  effected  in  the  other  volumes.  But,, 
"besides  that  the  science,  owing  to  its  greater  simplicity,  admits- 
of  more  concentration  in  its  written  exposition,  though  its  oral 
teaching  must  be  much  fuller  ;  two  other  reasons  combine  to- 
explain  this  exceptional  condensation.  Easier,  older,  and  more; 
independent,  the  speculations  of  Mathematics  have  naturally 
been  more  exposed  to  idle  digressions,  so  as  to  require  expurga- 
tion on  a  vaster  scale.  As  the  end  they  have  in  view  is  to. 
develope  method  rather  than  science,  their  culture  demands- 
more  time  and  even  effort  than  any  other,  but  this  is  no  reason 
why  their  systematic  exposition  in  writing  should  occupy  more 
space. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  only  synthetical  thinkers  duly 
trained,  and  such  at  the  present  day  are  extremely  rare,  who- 
will  consider  practicable  so  great  a  condensation,  previous  to  my 
effecting  it.  But  this  first  step  once  taken,  it  will  no  longer  be 
possible  to  reject  the  concentration  of  science  requisite  if 
feeling  is  to  preponderate,  activity  to  have  free  play.  Hence- 
naturally,  I  attached  peculiar  importance  to  this  explanation,  as. 
in  no  other  way  could  I  make  it  clear,  to  what  an  extent  the 
admirable  wish  of  Diderot  comes  to  be,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
century,  attainable  in  a  satisfactory  degree,  nay  even  in  a  degree 
beyond  the  hopes  originally  entertained. 

Such  remarks  as  I  have  to  offer  on  the  rest  of  Cosmology 
may  be  more  brief.  For  Biology,  though  in  the  first  volume  I 
treated  it  in  some  detail,  so  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  its 
definitive  systematisation,  it  still  requires  as  much  explanation 
as  the  whole  of  the  inorganic  sciences  together.  But  in  this 
place,  it  is  Morals  to  which  the  fullest  developement  must  be 
given,  as  soon  as  I  have  pointed  out  the  form  which  Sociology 
will  definitively  take  by  the  condensation  of  the  present  treatise. 

Of  the  seven  fundamental  sciences,  Astronomy  is  actually 
nearest  its  final  state,  so  as  to  require  merely  coordination  and 
some  elimination,  for  which  the  way  has  been  prepared  by  my 
first  volume.     My  treatise  on  Astronomy,  published  in  1844,  the 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  ■  185 

result  of  a  course  of  philosophical  and  popular  teaching  con- 
tinued during  seventeen  years,  completes  my  justification  for  not 
irsisting  at  present  on  the  second  phase  of  the  abstract  encyclo- 
pisdia.  These  two  preparatory  steps  should  suffice  to  enable  the 
reader  to  grasp  the  plan  of  the  second  volume  of  the  doctrinal 
system  of  Positivism.  Its  seven  chapters  will  organise  prelimi- 
nary astronomy;  the  statics  of  celestial  geometry ;  the  laws  which 
sum  up  its  dynamics ;  the  application  of  those  laws  for  legiti- 
mate prevision ;  the  fundamental  law  of  celestial  mechanics ; 
the  reaction  of  that  law  on  the  statics  of  the  science ;  and  its 
dynamical  developement.  All  I  have  to  add  here  is,  some  hints 
with  the  aim  of  completing  my  earlier  judgment  as  to  the  con- 
stitution, the  subjective  and  relative  constitution,  proper  for  the 
study  of  the  Earth — its  geometrical  and  mechanical  study. 

Such  complementary  observations  can  have  no  place  in  the  The  astro- 

^  'J  ■»■  nomical 

seven    chapters  of  the    volume  on  Astronomy,  those  chapters  volume,  as 
having  alreadv  their  definite  object  marked  out  as  a  result  of  wuiiiave ' 

°  ^  ^  .a  religious 

the  work  above  alluded  to,  which  cannot,  however,  be  a  substi-  introduction 

and  a  syn- 

tute  for  them.     But  the  second  volume  of  the  abstract  encyclo-  theticai  con- 
clusion. 
psedia  must,  as  its  predecessor  and  those  which  follow,  open  with 

a  religious  introduction,  and  be  summed  up  in  a  synthetical 
conclusion.  The  introduction  is  meant  to  set  forth  the  general 
constitution  of  the  science  treated,  and  its  normal  relations  with 
its  predecessor.  In  the  conclusion,  we  estimate  its  chief  results, 
and  its  value  as  a  preparatory  step  to  the  next  phase  of  the 
encyclopaedic  construction.  Now  it  is  in  reference  solely  to  this 
preamble  and  this  summaiy,  both,  though  in  a  different  way, 
relating  to  the  whole  of  the  science  under  review,  that  the 
astronomical  volume  of  the  second  philosophy  can  here  admit 
some  complementary  apergus. 

Confined  to  the  most  intellectual  of  our  senses,  the  study  of  Logical  as- 
the  heavens  creates  the  best  type  of  observation,  which  is  too  Astronomy. 
simple  in  Mathematics,  too  complex  everywhere  else,  for  us  to  best  type  of 
systematise  it  as  satisfactorily  as  in  the  second  phase  of  the  the  best 
encyclopaedia.     The  same  unavoidable  limitation  makes  it  the  hypotheses. 
destiny  of  Astronomy  to  furnish  us  spontaneously  our  model,  predecessor 
when  we  would  construct  hypotheses  of  a  really  Positive  cha-  factoriiy. 
racter,  hypotheses,  that  is  to  say,  always  admitting  of  verifica- 
tion.    Again,  no  other  science  can  so  thoroughly  regulate  the 
extent  to  be  allotted  to  its  predecessor,  for  nowhere  else  is  the 
connection  between  two  sciences  so  perfect.     These,  its  various 


186     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

logical  advantages,  do  not  however  here  require  any  new 
explanations.  Conversely  to  Mathematics,  Astronomy,  our 
second  abstract  science,  has  a  scientific  rather  than  a  logical 
object :  so  that  it  is  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  doctriae  in 
particular  that  I  must  now  complete  its  examination. 
scientiflo  Although  in  Astronomy,  as  in  Mathematics,  existence  in 

Astronomy,    the  widest  seuse  is  reduced  to  its  lowest  attributes,  in  Astronomy 

It  presents  i         -i  r-  i  •  •      -i  i 

iiswith         the  laws  of  those  attributes  produce  a  more  irresistible  con- 

Mathemati-         .      .  -i  mi  •  t         /• 

cai  existence  victiou  of  the  fundamental  order.     The  previous  study  of  these 

uncomplica-  ^--.^^ 

ted.  attributes,  as  much  a  question  ot  touch  as  of  sight,  was  better 

adapted  to  show  their  universality,  but  it  did  so  by  compelling 
us  to  set  aside  the  properties  which  co-exist  with  them  in 
such  bodies  as  are  entirely  within  our  reach.  Now  in  conse- 
quence of  this  abstraction  we  were  unable  adequately  to 
appreciate  numerical,  geometrical,  and  mechanical  order,  as  the 
indispensable  basis  of  the  higher  economy.  Existence,  in  the 
mathematical  sense,  must  be  seen  realised  in  bodies  capable  of 
offering  us  no  other  form  of  it,  if  its  laws  are  to  serve  as  the 
direct  foundation  of  the  whole  of  the  second  philosophy.  Such 
is  the  privilege  in  regard  to  synthesis  of  Astronomy,  it  affords 
us  the  advantages  of  the  concrete  point  of  view  in  our  study  of 
the  most  eminent  types  of  material  existence,  whilst  it  keeps 
the  abstract  character  required  for  scientific  generality,  as  we 
only  know  of  these  beings  under  this  one  aspect.  So  that  in  it 
numerical,  geometrical,  and  mechanical  existence  is  no  longer 
confined  to  the  subjective  milieu  created  by  the  instinct  of  the 
race  to  facilitate  especially  the  conception  by  all  of  such  ex- 
istence. When  made  the  object  of  direct  study  in  the  case  of 
the  heavenly  masses  which  govern  the  Earth's  motions,  it  traces 
in  them  an  order  of  the  more  capital  importance  in  that  it  is 
entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  human  interference. 
EeiatiTity  We  are  thus  led  to  see  that  mathematical  existence  is  the 

Astronomy,  normal  foundation  of  all  other  existence,  as  we  cannot  withdraw 
that  a  sub-  ourselvos  from  the  dominion  of  the  bodies  which  present  it 
is  alone  pos-  isolated,  and  in  which  it  implies  attributes  which  we  shall 
bounds  tiie     nevor  be  able  to  appreciate.     The  character  of  relativity  which 

Solaisystem.  ,,,  ..  ,  ,ij_  j 

attaches  to  all  real  enquiries  can  never  be  so  strongly  stampea 
on  any  other  science,  as  it  is  on  the  science  which  would  escape 
us  were  we  to  lose  the  only  sense  qualified  to  create  it,  or 
were  the  bodies  it  studies  and  their  milieu  destitute  of  the  pro- 
perties it  requires  for  its  creation.     Since  the  acceptance  of 


Chap.  IU.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  187 

the  earth's  motion,  Astronomy,  more  than  any  other  science, 
enforces  the  conviction  that  a  subjective  unity  is  the  only  one 
within  our  reach,  for  any  real  astronomical  knowledge  is  limited 
to  the  planetary  domain  of  the  Great  Being.  Were  it  not  for 
this  centre,  the  study  of  the  heavens  would  become  as  inco- 
herent as  it,  would  be  idle,  by  tending  towards  the  absolute, 
though  with  evidently  less  hope  in  this  particular  case  than 
elsewhere.  In  its  own  nature  indefinite,  Astronomy  can  be 
defined  only  by  affecting  it  to  the  knowledge  of  man's  planet, 
and  the  heavenly  bodies  in  connection  with  it ;  a  restriction 
which  implies  the  earth's  motion.  But  by  the  fact  of  this 
connection  the  earth's  motion  is  of  such  importance  to  relative 
philosophy,  that  in  its  maturity  human  reason  requires  no 
demonstration  of  its  existence.  It  was  really  accepted  without 
demonstration,  since  its  acceptance,  preceding  the  conclusive 
evidence  for  it,  took  place  at  the  time  when  the  advent  of  the 
Positive  state  gave  a  seasonable  opportunity  for  a  change  which 
had  been  in  preparation  from  the  very  earliest  beginning  of 
science. 

Whilst,  however,  we  study  the  heavens  in  order  to  know  the  The  planets 
earth,  astronomical  science  must  have  granted  it  the  whole  fluencethe 
field  required  for  the  relative  conception  of  the  fundamental  intoaccount. 
order.  Taking  no  account  of  the  stars  external  to  the  solar 
system,  we  study  amongst  those  which  compose  it  only  such  as 
can  really  influence  the  earth.  Those  then,  which  as  visible  to 
the  naked  eye,  were  at  all  times  observed,  should  constitute 
the  real  domain  of  Astronomy  ;  for  the  others,  as  too  small  or 
too  distant,  are  necessarily  alien  to  us.  The  field  thus  marked 
out,  is,  it  should  be  remembered,  sufficient  for  our  practical 
wants ;  nay  less  would  suffice,  the  two  bodies,  viz.,  in  direct 
connection  with  the  earth,  the  one  as  centre,  the  other  as 
its  satellite.  Nevertheless,  the  philosophical  aims  of  the  science 
require  an  habitual  attention  to  the  old  planets,  and  their  study 
finds  a  consecration  in  the  institution  of  the  week,  an  in- 
stitution adopted  into  the  Positive  worship.  Their  aggregate 
is  needed  to  give  us  a  suflScient  number  of  worlds  to  examine,  as 
was  admirably  shown  by  Fontenelle.  If  we  excluded  them, 
our  conception  of  the  order  which  is  a  fate  to  us  must  be  de- 
ficient in  relativity. 

The   same  train  of  philosophical    reasoning,  if  produced, 
sanctions  the  study  of  the  satellites  and  even  of  comets,  although 


188     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OP  MAN. 

if  we  regard  simply  our  wants,  either  intellectual  or  practical, 
we  might  entirely  eliminate  both  these  appendices.  On 
the  condition  of  its  constant  subordination  to  the  subjec- 
tive construction,  the  cultivation  of  the  two  branches  in. 
moderation  will  give  greater  completeness,  from  the  logical  as 
well  as  the  scientific  point  of  view,  to  our  study  of  the  celestial 
order,  as  a  result  of  a  systematic  comparison  of  the  three  gene- 
ral cases  in  which  we  trace  that  order.  Nothing  but  this 
comparative  study  can  impress  the  fact  that  the  regularity  of 
the  heavenly  order  is  due  solely  to  its  simplicity ;  as  soon  as 
the  influences  become  complicated,  the  economy  of  the  heavens 
tends  to  less  regularity,  than  do  the  institutions  created  by  the 
foresight  of  man. 
of'i'etiohSm  Having  carried  even  into  the  domain  of  Mathematics  the 
f=^Fo=t";'J'    definitive  fusion  of  Fetichism  with  Positivism,  so  the  better  to- 

Join  CHiSj'  111  ' 

Astronomy,  effect  the  Combination  in  logic  of  feelings,  images,  and  signs ; 
au  analogous  transformation  requires  no  effort  in  Astronomy.  It 
was  by  the  spectacle  of  the  heavens  really  that  Fetichism  sur- 
vived through  the  theological  era,  and  reached  its  incorporation. 

Psalm xLx.i.  with  Positivism.  The  ancient  verse,  my  definitive  renderinjj 
of  which  raised  such  bitter  feeling  towards  me,  could  only  have 
come  from  one  who  was  a  stranger  to  Astronomy.  In  fact,  the 
admiration  really  inspired  by  the  contemplation  of  the  heavens 
is  paid  directly  to  the  bodies,  the  regular  movements  of  which 
we  watch.  It  is  an  ungrateful  as  well  as  a  blind  disposition- — 
the  child  of  fictitious  and  temporary  beliefs — which  alone 
diverts  us  from  so  natural  a  movement,  by  representing  to  us 
these  immense  beings  as  purely  passive  under  wills  external 
to  them,  and  eternally  impenetrable.  But  the  definitive 
systematisation  revives  the  normal  attitude  towards  them,  which 
has  been  swerved  from  during  the  Western  transition,  or  rather 
during  the  last  phase  of  that  transition.  If  the  heavens  should 
above  all  recall  to  the  Positivist  the  Great  Being  which  re- 
vealed their  laws  and  conformed  to  those  laws  its  own  provi- 
dential arrangements,  they  may  also  inspire  him,  and  that 
in  a  higher  degree  than  the  Fetichists,  with  the  involun- 
tary gratitude  which  corresponds  to  our  appreciation  of  the 
universal  order,  an  appreciation  especially  resting  on  ex- 
perience. 

We  may,  The  doctrine  can  never  on  this  point  run  counter  to  the 

■with  due  i  £  j  V 

precautions,    disposition  Sanctioned  by  the  worship,  and  to  be  connrmed  by 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  189 

the  life,  as  it  should  never  lose  an  opportunity  of  enforcing  animate  the 
the  importance  of  assisting,  even  hy  artificial  means,  the  growth  bodies. 
of  our  sympathies.     Putting  aside  the  prejudices  of  science,  we 
admit  the  impossibility  of  demonstrating  the  non-existence  of 
the  Grods  to  whose  will  Astrolatry  looked  as  the  continuous 
source  of  the  celestial  order.     Since  we  have  suppressed  the 
idea  of  cause,  the  introduction  of  personal  wills  into  science 
■would  tend  to  disturb  the  study  of  laws,  to  which  it  served  of 
old  as  a  preparation.     But  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
not   persist   in    our  natural  dispositions,    and  ,use   these  wills 
as    a    logical    instrument    to    facilitate    our    speculations    in 
Astronomy  by  the   due  introduction   of    the  emotions.      In 
this   way  the  intellect  concurs    with  the  heart   in    justifying 
the  sanction  definitively  given  by  Sociolatry  to  Idolatry,  in 
direct  contradiction  with  the  empirical  conclusions  of  Theology. 
Metaphysics,  nay  even  of  Science.     If,   even  in  Mathematics, 
we  ought  to  animate   space  in  order  to  think  the  better  by 
loving  more,  a  fortiori  is  such  a  method  appropriate  in  Astro- 
nomy, where  it  has  been  usual  strongly  to  recommend  feelings 
of  a  disturbing  character.     By  the   adoption  of  this  method, 
the  state  of  synthesis  and  sympathy  become  so  entirely  spon- 
taneous as  no  longer  to  require  a  subjective  milieu ;  our  feelings 
may  be  directly  referred  to  the  objects  of  our  contemplation. 

In   Astronomy  in  its  subjective  form,  the  last  point  is  to  The  normal 

,  P  .  p  1        .    T  1  destination 

explain    what  is   the    true    function   of    celestial    mechanics,   of  celestial 

I'.ii  .1-11  1  ..  Mechanics 

Abandoning  the  irrational  hopes  entertained  by  mathematicians  isphuoso- 
in  their  pride  on  the  original  discovery  of  the  fundamental 
law  of  this  branch,  we  recognise  that  Astronomy  will  always 
remain  essentially  a  geometrical  study ;  we  have  not  the 
power,  nor  do  we  need  it,  to  reduce  everything  in  it  to  system. 
The  laws  of  Kepler  would  always  sufiSce  for  reasonable  pre- 
visions, if  the  six  elements  of  every  elliptical  movement  were 
in  each  case  adapted  anew  to  the  case.  Although  the  theory 
of  the  perturbations  in  these  elements  must  render  easier  their 
periodical  determination,  it  can  never  dispense  with  the  labour 
of  a  distinct  working  out  of  the  problem.  In  celestial  me- 
chanics, then,  it  is  the  philosophical  object  that  will  remain 
predominant,  be  it  the  perfecting  of  the  astronomical  synthesis, 
be  it  the  better  connection  of  that  synthesis  with  those  which 
precede  or  follow  it,  by  simplifying  and  adding  force  to  our 
conception  of  the  order  of  external  destiny. 


190     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  JIAN. 


Tola.  iii.  and 
IT.  o£  the 
Abstract 
Encyclopie- 
dia,  treating 
Physics  and 
Chemistry, 
reserved  for 
Comte'3  suc- 


The  third 
■  volume. 


The  foui-th 

Tolume. 

Chemistry. 


Phil.  Pos.  iii. 
p.  19,  1st  ed. 


Such  are  the  indications,  logical  and  scientiiic,  which  I  was 
bound  to  place  here  in  order  to  complete  my  earlier  treatment 
of  the  second  step  in  the  abstract  encyclopaedia.  The  primary 
pair  of  cosmological  sciences  thus  adequately  organised,  I  need 
not  linger  on  the  couple  which  forms  the  transition  from  the 
lower  objects  of  contemplation  to  the  higher  domain.  For  in 
the  first  volume  of  this  work,  the  systematisation  of  Physics 
and  Chemistry  has  been  set  forth  as  far  as  is  possible  in  the- 
present  state  of  the  Positive  reconstruction,  whilst  at  the  same 
time  the  conditions  yet  to  be  met  are  pointed  out.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  fifteenth  law  of  the  First  Philosophy,  the 
intermediate  couple  is  the  least  near  its  regeneration,  to  effect 
which  will  need  the  concurrence  of  the  two  others.  I  must 
leave,  then,  to  my  successors,  the  definitive  execution  of  the 
third  and  fourth  volumes  of  the  Second  Philosophy,  simply 
pointing  out  the  seven  chapters  into  which  each  is  to  be  divided. 

For  Physics,  the  religious  introduction  will  explain  the 
purely  subjective  unity  attainable  in  the  case  of  a  science,  the- 
branches  of  which  must  always  be  objectively  independent, 
notwithstanding  that  they  subserve  in  common  the  study  of 
the  general  constitution  of  inorganic  matter  as  existing  on  the 
earth.  The  order  of  the  seven  chapters  and  their  contents  will 
be  next  determined  by  the  senses  to  which  they  relate,  ranked 
by  their  increasing  speciality,  a  principle  of  arrangement  which 
is  in  conformity  with  the  gradual  transition  between  Astronomy 
and  Chemistry.  Barology  comes  first,  then  the  study  of 
Gustation  in  the  abstract,  when  founded ;  then  Thermology, 
followed  by  the  theory  of  Smell,  Optics,  Acoustics,  and 
Electrology. 

As  for  Chemistry,  it  is  a  science  which  admits  of  a  more- 
satisfactory  coordination  ;  since,  being  of  narrower  extent,  it  is 
susceptible  of  a  definition  in  the  fullest  sense  synthetical,  a 
definition  already  given  in  my  fundamental  work.  The  intro- 
duction will  first  set  forth  the  science  as  a  whole,  and  it  will 
then  be  possible  to  effect  its  definitive  systematisation  in  th& 
seven  chapters  of  the  volume  devoted  to  it,  assuming  that 
sufficient  preparation  has  been  made  by  the  elaboration  in- 
dicated in  the  first  volume  of  the  present  work.  The  seven 
chapters  will  organise  the  study  of  the  elements ;  the  chemical 
examination  of  the  earth's  environment ;  the  theory  of  the 
simplest  compounds ;  the  theory  of  the  second  and  most  im- 


Chap.  III."]  THE  DOCTRINE.  191 

portant  degree  of  composition ;  the  general  laws  of  combination ; 
the  examination  of  the  third  degree ;  lastly,  the  complement 
relating  to  substances  of  unstable  composition. 

It  is  in  this  intermediate   couple  that  the  institution  of  Theoryof 
subjective  milieus,  systematised  by  Positivism  on  the  basis  of  Miuens 
its  rudimentary  form  in  Mathematics,  will  most  fully  display  tive  in  this 
its  efficiency  as  an  intellectual  instrument,  not  that  it  may  not  be  couple. 
extended  also  to  the  province  of  life.  So  adapted  is  it  to  geometry 
and  even  to  mechanics,  that  its  peculiar  mode  in  those  studies 
came  in  spontaneously,  neither  the  scientific  education  of  the 
individual  or  the  race  permitting  us  to  trace  the  formation  in 
the  brain  of  the  idea  of  space.     It  is  in  the  physico-chemical 
domain,  however,  that  the  institution  finds  its  widest  field  in 
consequence   of  the  greater  variety  of  the  phenomena  there 
observed,  each  class  of  which  requires  a  milieu   suited  to  its 
abstract  study,   a  milieu    but    imperfectly    indicated   by   the 
original  type. 

Having  thus  set  forth  sufficiently  the   definitive  systema-  Biology. 
tisation  of  the  existence  common  to  all  bodies,  in  its  three 
stages,  mathematical,  physical,  and  chemical,  I  must  now  enter 
on  the  special  sphere  of  unity,  and  so  on  Biology  as  a  pre- 
paration for  it. 

In  my  first  volume  I  worked  out  the  systematic  study  of  The  fifth 
vitality  more  fully  than  any  other  part  of  natural  philosophy,  the  Abstract 
I  carried  its  organisation  so  far  as  to  give  separately  each  of  aia. 
the  forty  lessons,  which,  in  the  general  plan  of  Positive  educa- 
tion, are  devoted  to  Biology.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  fifth 
volume  of  the  abstract  encyclopsedia  must  here  receive  fuller 
explanations  than  any  of  its  predecessors,  in  order  to  give  its 
true  character  to  a  systematisation  of  equal  difficulty  and 
urgency  by  drawing  out  into  special  prominence  the  necessary 
connection  of  Biology  with  the  religion  of  Humanity.  The 
slight  attention  gained,  these  three  years  past,  by  the  capital 
conceptions  I  put  forward  on  the  immediate  reconstruction  of 
Biology,  is  but  one  more  proof  how  impossible  it  is  to  give  any 
science  its  systematic  form,  if  we  isolate  it  from  the  whole  of 
the  doctrine.  Never  would  the  theory  of  life  be  disengaged 
from  the  analytical  regime  which  is  destroying  it,  were  not  a 
social  impulse  to  secure  its  due  submission  to  the  discipline  of 
synthesis. 

Eeferring  to  the  treatment  of  Biology  in  my  first  volume, 


192     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAlf. 


Elimination 
from  Biology 
of  two  sub- 
jects :  the 
theory  of 
Unity,  and 
the  Ccrehral 
Synthesis. 


With  this 
elimination 
the  extent 
of  Biology 
not  dispro- 
portioned  to 
that  of  Cos- 
mology. 


The  intro- 
duction to 
the  fifth 
volume. 


I  am  bound  in  the  first  place  to  point  out  a  definitive  elimina- 
tion which  will  place  it  in  a  better  light.  The  systematisation 
of  Biology  stood  there  between  two  expositions  essentially  alien 
to  the  fifth  encyclopsedic  phase,  but  for  which  I  could  not  then 
find  another  place  and  yet  which  I  needed  for  the  exposition 
of  Sociology.  Both  really  concern  the  ultimate  science,  the 
one  for  the  theory  of  unity,  the  other  for  the  synthesis  of  the 
cerebral  functions. 

Assume  these  two  episodes  transferred  to  their  proper  place, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  Introductory  Principles,  Bio- 
logy is  not  treated  on  a  scale  disproportioned  to  that  of 
Cosmology.  If  this  is  allowed,  a  few  systematic  considerations 
are  all  that  is  needed  here  to  complete  the  work  then  done,  and 
their  aim  will  be  to  mark  more  strongly  the  dependence  sub- 
jectively of  the  vital  order  on  the  human  order.  We  cannot  do 
this  better  than  by  stating  the  object  and  the  connection  of  the 
seven  chapters  into  which  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Second  Philo- 
sophy is  to  be  divided. 

In  its  religious  introduction,  the  first  point  will  be  to  show 
the  greatness  of  the  step  taken  by  the  intellect,  when  it  passes 
from  the  inorganic  world  to  the  world  of  life.  So  disconnected 
is  mere  material  existence  that  the  corpuscular  theory  is 
necessary  to  determine  in  Cosmology  what  is  the  proper  field 
of  abstraction,  abstraction  there  always  relating  to  molecules 
even  whilst  studying  masses.  In  Biology,  on  the  contrary,  we 
enter  the  domain  of  unity,  the  unity  of  simple  nutrition  in  the 
first  place,  then  the  unity  of  action  and  sensation,  in  the  case  of 
beings,  whose  characteristic  is  a  permanent  consensus,  which 
allows  analysis  only  as  the  preparation  for  synthesis.  A  law,  as 
indisputable  as  it  is  inexplicable,  connects,  in  aU  cases  without 
exception,  this  contrast  between  independence  and  concert  with 
the  opposition  between  fixity  of  composition  and  renewal  of  the 
material  substance.  Thus  is  established  the  gi-eat  primary 
dualism  of  relative  philosophy ;  the  preparation  for  which  is  the 
dualism  introduced  by  the  absolute  philosophy,  when  it  sepa- 
rated, as  early  as  the  Fetichist  period,  the  external  order  from 
the  human.  This  instinctive  division,  which  drew  no  distinction 
between  vitality  and  materiality,  was  destined  under  Theologism, 
concentrated  as  it  was  on  Humanity,  to  serve  as  guide  to  Positive 
science  in  its  gradual  ascent,  from  its  first  step  in  Mathematics 
to  its  final  terminus  in  Morals.      By  giving  over  to  Positive 


•Chap.  III.J  THE  DOCTKINE.  193 

science  the  province  of  life,  it  impelled  it  towards  the  study  of 
man,  only  separate  from  that  of  life  when  we  take  into  account 
the  succession  of  the  several  degrees  of  unity. 

In  this  way,  the  religious  introduction  of  the  biological  Biology  is 
volume  makes  us  feel  the  strictly  preparatory  object  of  the  amweto 
science,  a  point  more  appreciable  the  nearer  we  get  to  the  goal  Hnmanity. 
of  our  theoretic  efforts,  which    alone  allows  a  true  synthesis,  all  MmitB. 
partial  syntheses  being  futile.      As  preparatory,  the  study  of 
life  in  the  strict  sense  tends  to  be  limited  to  the  preamble 
required  for  the  systematic  appreciation  of  Humanity.     All  the 
gi'eat  problems  as  to  Unity  can  be  stated  only  in  an  inchoate 
form  in  Biology,  as  their  solution  depends  above  all  on  the 
functions  of  the  brain,  the   essential  sources  of  the  consensus, 
which  is  but  imperfectly  perceptible  till  we  reach  the  ultimate 
domain,  or  Morals. 

We  are' thus  led  to  condense  Biology  in  seven  chapters,  the  The  seven 
two  first  of  which  organise  its  statical  basis,  anatomical  in  the  the  woiogi- 
first  place,  then  taxonomical ;    the  others  being  all  devoted  to  chaps,  i.  li. 
its  dynamical  portion.      The  biotomical    chapter   gives,   in   a  i.  Anato- 
systematic  form  and  in  succession,  the  three  normal  stages  of 
statical  analysis ;  it  treats,  that  is,  of  the  elements,  tissues,  and 
organs,  thus  completing  duly  the  fundamental    conception  of 
Bichat.      Leaving  molecular  questions  to  Cosmology,  Biology 
must  yet  begin  with  the  study  of  the  elements,  in  order  to  gain 
a  right  understanding  of  the  harmony  between  the  solids  and 
the  fluids,  since  the  fluids  can  contain  nothing  but  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  solids. 

The  second  chapter  arranges  the  hierarchy  of  life  with  the  chap.  ii. 
view  of  linking  Vegetality,  properly  so  called,  to  Humanity, 
through  the  series  of  degrees  admissible  for  Animality.  Scien- 
•  tifically  viewed,  the  scale  so  formed  gives  at  once  the  succession 
of  independent  barriers  which  separate  man  from  the  inorganic 
world,  and  the  series  of  intermedia  which  transmit  to  us  the 
action  of  that  world.  Logically  viewed,  it  throws  light  upon  the 
analysis  of  life  by  fixing  all  its  modes  in  beings  which  present 
them  isolated  from  the  higher  degrees,  and  it  allows  biological 
synthesis  to  follow  throughout  the  series  the  modifications  of  the 
unity  originally  expressed  in  man  as  its  supreme  type.  These 
two  uses  of  the  scale  of  life  admit,  nay,  demand  a  subjective 
conception  of  that  scale,  in  which  we  put  aside  on  system  unpro- 
pitious  cases,  whilst  we  introduce  such  imagirary  organisms  as 

TOL.  IT.  0 


Taxonomy. 


194      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


DynamicEil 
Biology. 

Chaps.  III. 
IV. 

Laws  of 
vegetal  and 
animal  life. 


Chap.  V. 
Law  of  here- 
ditary trans- 
mission. 


Chap.  TI. 
Relations 
between  the 
organism 
and  the  en- 
vironment. 


Chap.  VII. 
Vital  modi- 
ficability. 


Synthetic 
conclusion 
of  the  fifth 
volume. 


Logical  ap- 
preciation of 
the  treatise 
on  Biology. 


may  facilitate  our  transitions  and  our  comparisons.  This  done 
the  vital  series  becomes  unassailable,  and  connects  equally  with 
the  progression  traced  in  the  material  order  and  the  evolution 
of  man,  whilst  it  secures  the  continuity  of  the  Second  Philo- 
sophy in  obedience  to  the  law  of  classification  which  it  derives, 
from  the  First. 

With  this  preparation,  dynamical  Biology  is  condensed  in 
five  chapters,  in  which  animality  is  distinguished  from  vege- 
tality,  in  accordance  with  the  mode  of  alimentation,  for  in 
animal  life  the  materials  of  nutrition  must  be  elaborated  in  lower 
organisms  if  they  are  to  be  adapted  to  the  higher.  The  third 
chapter  of  the  fifth  volume  of  the  abstract  encyclopaedia  must  be 
devoted,  then,  to  the  three  fundamental  laws  of  vegetative  or 
organic  life,  to  the  study,  that  is,  of  renewal,  of  developement, 
and  lastly  of  reproduction.  The  next  chapter  proceeds  from 
this  point  to  an  equivalent  treatment  of  animal  Hfe,  by  examin- 
ing in  succession  the  laws  of  exercise,  habit,  and  improvement. 

The  complement  of  these  two  groups  of  vital  laws  must 
be  given  by  their  connection,  the  proper  subject  of  the  fifth 
chapter,  where  the  seventh  law,  the  special  law  of  hereditary 
transmission,  combines  the  functions  of  nutrition  which  are 
unintermittent  with  the  functions  of  activity  which  are  inter- 
mittent. We  are  thus  enabled  in  the  sixth  chapter  to  examine 
directly  the  relations  which  necessarily  exist  between  the  organ- 
ism and  its  environment,  which  relations  are  the  permanent 
sources  of  the  modifications  of  either.  As  the  result  of  this,  the 
whole  preparatory  process  issues,  in  the  seventh  chapter,  in  the 
general  study  of  vital  modificability,  and  we  base  this  study  on 
the  third  law  of  the  First  Philosophy,  the  law  which  connects 
all  variations  whatever,  even  the  variations  of  disease,  with  the 
normal  state. 

This  construction  of  the  abstract  theory  of  life  is  summarised 
in  the  synthetic  conclusion  of  the  volume,  which  states  the  grand 
results  of  the  biological  treatise,  and  forms  the  direct  introduc- 
tion to  the  Sociological  volume.  Under  its  logical  aspect, 
Biology,  as  the  highest  portion  of  natural  philosophy,  gives 
completeness  to  the  relativity  originated  by  the  lowest  portion, 
and  developed  in  the  intermediate  sciences,  the  ultimate  object 
being  to  form  the  basis  for  moral  philosophy.  Summed  up  in 
the  movement  of  the  earth  and  the  gravitation  of  the  planetary 
system,  the  astronomical  synthesis  is  a  preparation  for  the  rela- 


Chap,  in.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  195 

tive  conception  of  hunaan  existence,  by  revealing  the  relative 
character  of  our  conception  of  the  environment  to  which  we  are 
subject.  But  the  systematisation  of  Biology  extends  the  same 
process  to  the  constitution  of  our  bodies,  on  which  rests  our 
cerebral  life.  As  a  consequence,  the  science  of  Sociology  is 
enabled  to  effect  the  decisive  revolution  in  the  human  under- 
standing, by  its  direct  proof  that  all  opinions  whatever  are 
relative,  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  their  movement.  It  is,  how- 
ever, solely  from  this  final  branch  of  study  that  we  get  the 
power  of  understanding  why  the  change  was  so  long  in  coming, 
why  it  was  destined  to  await  the  close  of  our  initiation,  though 
the  foundation  for  it  had  been  laid  from  the  very  first  begin- 
niags  of  the  scientific  developement.  If  on  the  one  hand,  the 
conception  of  the  earth's  motion  was  early  accepted ;  on  the 
other,  the  spontaneous  comparison  of  the  various  degrees  of 
animal  existence  was  at  all  times  sufScient  to  establish  the 
relative  character  of  our  biological  conceptions  whenever  the 
time  should  be  ripe  for  its  acceptance. 

Under  its  scientific  aspect,  the  treatise  on  life  developes  and  soientiflc  ap- 
consolidates  om'  primary  conception  of  the  order  of  the  world,  ^'^^"'^ ""'" 
connecting  as  it  does  the  intellectual  and  moral  order  with  the 
material,  by  laws  whose  sway  is  a  matter  of  direct  conscious- 
ness. The  study  of  these  laws  prepares  the  way  for  the  syste- 
matic conception  of  a  destiny  admitting  modifications,  a  concep- 
tion which  is  the  leading  characteristic  of  the  Positive  dogma. 
For  in  Biology  the  phenomena  become  so  complex,  as  to  evidence 
the  possibility  of  modifying,  no  less  than  the  impossibility  of 
withdrawing  ourselves  from,  the  natural  order.  Its  imperfection 
is  more  sensible,  its  instability  more  marked,  and  both  tend  to 
inspire  a  deeper  sense  of  the  dignity  of  our  nature  and  the  true 
purpose  of  our  existence.  Even  Cosmology  excludes  the  idea  of 
absolute  seciu-ity,  by  its  unbroken  prospect  of  material  cata- 
strophes, either  celestial  or  terrestrial,  catastrophes  against 
which  we  cannot  provide.  But  Biology  widens  and  completes 
our  sense  of  insecurity,  by  making  us  aware  how  precarious  is 
the  individual  existence,  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  whole 
social  economy.  We  are  thus  compelled  to  connect  ourselves 
more  closely  with  the  Great  Being,  whose  service  gives  scope  for 
the  feelings  which  give  oiu*  life  a  nobility  and  even  a  consis- 
tency, which  rise  above  all  the  fatalities  of  the  inorganic  or  vital 
order. 

o  2 


196      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE   POLITY.      THE  PUTUJBE   OP  MAN. 


Preparation 
for  the  trea- 
tise on  So- 
ciology in 
the  syntheti- 
cal conolu- 
Rion. 


Comple- 
mentary re- 
marks. 


Additions"  to 
the  first 
chapter. 
The  Law  of 
ternary  pro- 
gression. 


Coming  now  to  the  logical  and  scientific  preparation  for  the 
sociological  volume,  the  synthetical  conclusion  of  the  biological 
construction  effects  it  directly  by  its  outline  of  the  study  of  the 
brain,  and  of  the  theory  of  unity,  guided  thereto  by  investiga^ 
tion  of  the  lower  animals.  But  this  twofold  introduction 
becomes  negative  rather  than  positive,  when  we  suppress  the 
notions  derivable  from  the  higher  science,  although  the  placing 
them  in  biology  may  have  its  advantages  in  teaching,  if  it  be  in 
subordination  to  the  succeeding  phase  of  abstract  education. 
The  great  object  in  so  placing  them  must  be  to  show  the 
inevitable  impotence  of  the  treatise  on  life,  as  regards  sucli 
speculations  ;  they  have  their  fundamental  type  in  the  sacred 
science,  profane  science  serving  as  a  preparation,  and  as  a  pre- 
paration only.  Biology  represents  each  animal  species  as  a 
Grreat  Being  which  has  aborted,  the  cause  of  its  failure  lying 
rather  in  its  circumstances  than  in  itself,  and  by  this  presenta- 
tion it  establishes  the  law  which  reserves  to  the  preponderating 
race  the  developement  of  collective  existence,  the  sole  source 
of  real  unity.  Historically  derived  from  the  sacred  science, 
dogmatically  the  conception  may  be  transferred  to  take  its 
place  at  the  head  of  profane  science,  in  order  that  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  former  may  end  in  the  demonstration  of  the 
insufficiency  of  the  latter. 

To  give  completeness  to  the  new  views  here  advanced  on 
the  final  systematisation  of  Biology,  I  must  give  those  which, 
at  each  stage  of  the  process  of  revision,  I  have  been  obliged 
to  put  aside  in  order  not  to  interrupt  the  general  succession  of 
ideas. 

In  the  first  chapter,  there  must  be  added,  first,  the  application 
to  the  anatomical  series  of  the  law  of  ternary  progression,  nay  even 
to  the  coordination  of  the  elements  of  the  organism.  The  sub- 
jective organisation  of  Biology — such  is  the  only  security  against 
the  uncertainty  which  results,  in  reference  to  the  general 
divisions  of  statical  analysis,  from  distinctions  or  connections 
alike  arbitrary.  If  we  rightly  conceive  the  object  of  the  pro- 
gression— and  it  is  rightly  conceived  as  essentially  logical — we 
determine  its  limits  by  the  consideration  of  the  scientific  wants 
it  has  to  satisfy.  In  that  case  we  keep  only  the  three  terms 
above  mentioned,  the  true  conception  of  which  is  in  reality  due 
to  Bichat,  for  he  it  was  who  established  the  middle  term,  by 
virtue  of  which  the  two  others,  at  all  times  instinctively  recog- 


Chap.  Ill]  THE  DOCTRINE.  197 

nised,  are  at  length  accepted  on  system.  In  like  manner  we 
must  determine  the  anatomical  elements,  by  looking  on  them 
as  destined  to  represent  the  harmony  which  is  indispensable 
between  the  solids  and  the  flmds  of  the  body,  provided  always 
that  we  first  separate  the  elements  from  the  products,  with 
which  they  were  often  confounded.  This  destination  involves 
our  looking  on  the  blood  as  containing  all  the  rudiments  of  the 
tissues,  and,  consequently,  of  the  organs.  Now,  the  tissues  are 
necessarily  three  in  number,  in  order  to  allow  the  life  of  nutrition, 
muscular  action,  and  nervous  excitability,  and  they  are  three  by 
virtue  of  the  structure,  cellular,  fibrous,  or  tubular,  adapted  for 
the  discharge  of  these  functions  respectively. 

As  for  the  second  chapter,  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  explain  the  S^apter?""* 
feasibility  of  condensing  therein  a  study  to  which  academical  ™fe^J^iS° 
routine  devotes   several   volumes.      Such   condensation  would  <^^^^^<^^<>^- 
still  be  impossible,  or  would  be  found  unsatisfactory,  had  we  not 
already,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  Second  Philosophy, 
created  the  general  theory  of  Positive  classifications,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principle  laid  down  in   the  First   Philosophy. 
But  with  these  antecedents,  we  may  reduce  the  taxonomical 
chapter  of  the  treatise  on  life,  almost  entirely  to  the  construction, 
a  subjective  rather  than  objective  construction,  of  the  scale  of 
organic  beings,  and  that  contracted  within  the  limits  appro- 
priate to  its  legitimate  destination. 

The  third  chapter  is  calculated  to  place  in  a  clear  light  the  ^^apte?'^ 
true  nature   of  the  systematisation  of  Biology,  by  the  way  in  f^l^^°^ 
which  it  establishes  the  theory  of  vegetal  life.     If  it  were  our  ^^^^1^^°^ 
object  to  systematise  Biology,  from  an  objective  point  of  view, 
it  must  be  reduced  to  this  its  first  province,  the  only  one  ad- 
mitting an  exact  demarcation  as  regards    the  higher  science 
between  which  and  Cosmology  it  is  the  link.    Since  the  abstract 
study  of  vegetal  life  is  undertaken  only  with  a  view  to  animal 
life,  this  usage  adopted  by  common   consent  foreshadows  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  subjective  synthesis,  which  can  have 
no  other  source  but  the  primary  type  of  unity. 

The  conclusion  here  reached,  a  conclusion  at  once  logical  and  ab^J^T^ 
scientific,  gains  its  full  force  in  the  fourth   chapter,  where  the  Sniiu" 
special  study  of  the  life  of  relation  never  lets  us  forget  the  con-  ^ep'tJthe 
viction  to  what  a  degree  biological  reasoning  remains  irrational  or^ewf"^' 
when  it  is  isolated  from  its  true  human  application.     It  makes 
vain  efforts  to   establish  the  consensus  of  the   muscular  and 


198     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 

nervous  functions,  so  long  as  it  misconceives  the  functions  of 
the  brain,  which  alone  bring  the  others  into  combination.  Now, 
the  study  of  these  higher  or  cerebral  phenomena,  though  we 
may  enter  on  it  in  a  certain  imperfect  degree  in  regard  to  the 
lower  animals,  can  be  pursued  fully  only  in  man,  and  man  is 
inseparable  from  Humanity. 
tThe  fifth  The  like  remark  is  applicable  to  the  fifth  chapter,  as  it 

forms  the  only  possible  connection,  biologically,  between  the  two 
preceding  chapters.  But  whilst  it  evidences  the  insufficiency 
of  this  direct  connection,  at  the  same  time  it  evidences  its  im- 
portance and  its  reality.  Although  the  seventh  law  of  vitality, 
logically  speaking,  may  be  deduced  from  the  others,  whereas 
they  are  irreducible,  it  is  wise  to  distinguish  it  from  them, 
be  it  to  use  it  as  a  bond  of  union  for  them,  or  be  it  above  all  to 
keep  in  sight  its  own  particular  object,  at  once  a  theoretical 
and  practical  object. 
Thesixtii  For  the  sixth  chapter,  I  have  nothing  to  add  at  present, 

subfeoSvity    savc  &  particular  recommendation,  in  working  out  the  theory 
meffll?"""      of  organic  milieus,  to  adhere  to  the  subjective  point  of  view; 
on  that  theory  depend   the   principal    problems  of   Ufe,  and 
it  will  be  characteristic    of  the  efficiency   of  the  synthetical 
method. 
The  seventh  So  again  for  the  seventh  chapter  at  first,  since  the  theory. 

Aptitude  for  of  vital  modificability  exists  as  yet  only  in  its  general  principle, 
Minflned  to"  an  immediate  outcome  of  the  First  Philosophy.  But  it  needs 
^bSances.  a  complement  here,  in  the  law  which  applies  to  all  modifying 
influences  whatsoever,  provided  always  that  they  be  distin- 
guished from  foreign  bodies.  The  law  consists  in  limiting 
an  aptitude  for  modifying  to  such  substances  as  are  assi- 
milable, regarding  each  as  an  irritant  or  a  calmative,  when 
the  dose  exceeds  or  falls  short  of  the  point  at  which  it  is  an 
article  of  food.  This  law  completes  the  theory  of  modificability, 
which  ought  not  to  be  confined  to  the  organism  modified,  but 
should  include  the  modifying  milieu.  Its  application  in 
science  is  to  establish,  between  therapeutics  and  hygienics,  a 
subordination  analogous  to  that  which  the  principle  of  Broussais 
established  between  pathology  and  physiology.  I  have  not 
here  to  bring  out  its  utility ;  in  practice,  it  eliminates 
specifics,  and  offers  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  them.  If 
we  inquire  into  its  origin  as  a  part  of  the  system  dynamically, 
it  is  traceable  to  the  connection  between  nutrition  and  action, 


•Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  199 

a  conneetion,  the  statical  equivalent  of  which  is  the  connection 
between  the  vessels  and  the  nerves. 

Besides  these  special  additions  to  the  several  chapters  of  the  nisseotion, 

,  even  of  ani- 

'treatise  on  life,  I  have  one  last  remark  to  add  here,  a  remark  mais,  for- 

■  bidden  the 

applicable  throughout  the  whole  of  Biology.  It  bears  on  the  priest. 
discipline,  established  in  my  theory  of  the  Great  Being,  of  the 
ranatomical  examination  of  the  human  body.  Confined  to 
functionaries  on  whom  devolves  a  terrible  office,  it  must  never 
soil  the  dignity  of  the  priesthood,  be  what  they  may  the 
^seductions  of  science,  which  are  always  kept  in  check  by  the 
antipathy  of  the  public,  not  to  speak  of  the  distaste  of  individual 
priests.  Apart  from  all  moral  grounds,  the  restriction  is  one 
■which  far  from  hampering  thought  in  Biology,  stimulates  it  to  a 
systematic  action ;  since  it  tends  to  ensure  the  fuller  ascen- 
dancy of  the  subjective  method,  the  most  fruitful  source  of  high 
conceptions.  An  examination  whicli  would  degrade  the  priest- 
hood is  no  degradation  to  functionaries  who  would  welcome 
such  means  of  bestowing  their  official  leisure,  whilst  all  abuse 
is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  opportunities  cannot  be  multi- 
plied by  any  act  of  theirs.  To  such  an  extent  can  reasoning 
take  the  place  of  observation,  that  most  anatomical  laws  can 
be  deduced  from  physiological  conceptions  with  as  much  ease 
as  was  the  duality  of  the  cerebral  organs,  indicated  by  the  fact 
of  double  vision,  and  by  our  instinct  of  symmetry.  As  salutary 
for  the  intellect  as  for  the  heart,  the  discipline  of  synthesis 
will  make  us  shrink  from  the  abuse  of  substituting  animals 
for  men,  the  priesthood  of  Sociocracy  more  even  than  the 
priesthood  of  Theocracy  being  disposed  to  insist  upon  the  con- 
stant respect  of  our  auxiliaries. 

Such   are  the  several  additions  required  to  coinplete  the  Theaddi- 
indications  of  my  first  volume  as  to  the  definitive  systematisa-  binea-with 
tion  of  Biology.     By  combining  the  two  with  the  third  volume  work  aione 
of  my  Philosophy,  it  will  be  possible  to  undertake  the  construe-  the  woiop- 

T  f>  1  •  J.       J-    *^^  volume, 

tion  of  the   treatise  on  lite,  so   soon  as  the  more  important  when  certain 
deficiencies  yet  existing  shall  have  been  supplied.     The  execu-  beeniiued. 
tion  of  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Second  Philosophy  being  reserved 
for   one  of  my  successors,  its  plans  required  even  now  some 
definitive  indications,  which  will  dispense  with  my  recurring  to 
the  subject. 

Before  I  proceed  further  with  the  synthetical  construction  -me  division 
of  the  seven  treatises  which  are  to  fix  the  analytical  form  of  Ave  first  and 


200     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  EUTUEE  OE  MAN.. 


the  two  last 
volumes  of 
the  abstract 
eucyclopiE- 
dia;  between 
natural  and 
moral  philo- 
sophy ;  be- 
tween pro- 
fane and 
sacred 
science. 


The  two 
binary  di- 
visions com- 


the  Positive  doctrine,  I  must  dwell  on  the  marked  distinction! 
which,  without  destroying  the  connection  of  the  whole,  wilt 
always  make  itself  felt  between  the  five  first  and  the  two  last.  The- 
historical  division  of  the  Second  Philosophy  into  natural  and 
moral,  is  one  the  utility  of  which  is  not  confined  to  the  initia- 
tion in  science,  either  of  the  individual  or  of  the  race.  As  the 
motives  which  led  to  its  adoption  as  a  natural  result  stiUi 
operate,  we  see  that  it  is  destined  ultimately  to  become  equally 
for  theoricians  and  practicians  the  binary  arrangement  of  the 
doctrine  most  in  use.  The  one  with  which  I  above  confronted 
it  is  objectively  more  rational,  for  it  rests  upon  more  marked  dis- 
tinctions and  more  close  connections  ;  but  subjectively  it.  is  less 
rational,  so  as  to  offer  us  less  aid  in  our  synthetical  meditations.. 
We  must,  then,  look  upon  the  chief  binary  intellectual  division 
as  a  definitive  outcome  of  the  distinction,  at  first  spontaneously 
adopted,  then  systematically,  between  the  human  order  and 
the  external  order,  two  branches  of  study  which  are  ta  be  com- 
pared under  the  expressive  names  of  sacred  and  profane  science. 
In  the  normal  state,  whilst  due  attention  wiU  be  paid  to  the- 
inevitable  contrast  between  the  organism  and  the  environment,, 
the  great  use  of  that  distinction  wUl  be  to  bring  out  more  clearly 
the  relativity  of  all  our  conceptions,  and  the  futility  of  all 
objective  syntheses.  These  two  results  once  become  familiar  to 
all,  the  historical  dualism  will  prevail  over  the  dogmatical. 

Compare  the  two  under  their  logical  aspect,  and  we  see  that 
the  first  is  better  adapted  than  the  second  to  subordinate  objec- 
tive analysis  to  subjective  synthesis.  For  the  second  seems  to 
hand  over  to  analysis  a  domain  in  which  analysis  must  ever 
preponderate,  as  disconnected  existences  are  in  question  ;  whilst 
the  former  terminates  the  system  of  dispersion  by  a  rudimentary 
introduction  of  unity.  Although  the  organic  scale,  by  its  want 
of  continuity,  tends  to  give  a  sanction  to  the  dominion  of 
analysis,  we  have  a  legitimate  resource  for  anticipating  or 
remedying  this  downward  tendency  in  the  subjective  aim  of  om- 
biological  studies,  directed  as  they  invariably  are  to  an  indi- 
visible problem.  The  dogmatical  combination  could  be  pre- 
ferred to  the  historical  only  if  analysis  were  destined  to  be 
finally  the  general  characteristic  of  the  Second  Philosophy. 
But  as,  on  the  contrary,  that  philosophy  is  in  its  ultimate 
form  to  be  synthetical,  the  historical  dualism,  as  a  better  prepa- 
ration for  it,  is  theoretically  preferable.     Its  practical  superio- 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  201 

rity  cannot  be  doubted,  admirably  adapted  as  it  is,  to  represent, 
in  its  best  form,  the  contrast  between  the  two  social  powers. 
To  guide  the  reaction  of  the  organic  on  the  inorganic  world  in 
its  full  extent,  man  must  rank  his  auxiliar  animals  amongst  the 
beings  to  be  modified ;  so  that  the  external  order  and  the 
human  order  are  the  respective  departments  of  the  Patriciate 
and  of  the  Priesthood. 

This  definitive  comparison  of  the  two  binary  arrangements.  The  two 
both  equally  normal,  allowable  for  the  Positive  dogma,  may  be  withrefer- 
summarised  by  an  examination  of  the  extreme  limits  assignable  jective 
to  the  institution  of  subjective  milieus,  the  scientific  object  of 
which  is  to  facilitate  abstractions.  Though  the  institution  is 
more  available  in  Cosmology  than  in  Biology,  speculation  in  the 
latter  becoming  less  abstract ;  still  it  ought  to  be  of  use  in 
perfecting  the  general  study  of  life,  and  that  by  enabling  us  to 
form  a  clearer  idea  of  the  typical  organisms.  In  Astronomy  it 
helps  us  to  realise  the  movements  without  the  bodies ;  a  fortiori 
in  Biology  it  can  assist  our  comparisons,  too  often  partial  and  as 
such,  in  default  of  images,  limited  to  the  help  of  signs.  But  in 
social  and  moral  investigations,  the  institution  loses  at  once  its 
aptitude  and  its  destination,  as  does  analysis  which  it  assists  ; 
for  at  this  point  abstraction  is  nearing  its  end,  owing  to  the 
coincidence  of  the  object  and  the  subject.  The  scientific  value, 
then,  of  subjective  milieus,  as  well  as  their  BBsthetic  power, 
extends  as  far  as  the  limits  of  the  domain  of  profane  science, 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can  ever  have  place  in  the  domain 
of  sacred  science. 

It   remains   to  complete  the    construction   of  the    Second  separation  - 
Philosophy  by  the  exposition  of  its  two  last  portions ;  the  irrevoc-  ana  Morals. 
able  disjunction  of  which  expresses  in  brief  the  chief  superiority   the  subject 
of  my   present   work    over   my   Philosophy.      Though    moral  volume. 
science   is   more   especially  the   object  we   have   in  view,  we 
must  first  touch  on  Sociology,  to  which  will  be  devoted  the 
sixth  volume  of  the  abstract  encyclopaedia.     But  by  virtue  of 
the  work  done  in  the  present  treatise,  the  definitive  systemati- 
sation  of  Sociology  may  be  practically  reduced  to  the  combina- 
tion in  a  single  volume  of  the  two  in  which  I  have  shaped  the 
statics  and  dynamics  of  the  social  science. 

So  condensed,  and  the  condensation  is  one  attended  with  Eeugioua 
only  minor  difficulties,  the  sociological  volume  of  the  Second  smd  synthe- 
Philosophy  will  consist  of  seven  coordinate  chapters,  standing,  slon  ot'the ' 


202     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


volume  on 
Sociology. 


The  seven 
chapters  of 
the  Socio- 
logical 
volume. 


as  in  every  other  case,  between  the  religious  introduction  and  the 
synthetical  conclusion.  The  introduction  -will  delineate  the 
general  arrangement  of  the  sixth  encyclopaedic  phase  and  its 
dependence  on  the  preceding  one  ;  the  conclusion  will  give  its 
principal  results  and  its  function  as  regards  its  successor.  These 
two  explanations  are  in  Sociology  more  urgently  needed,  and 
more  difficult  than  in  the  previous  sciences,  as  in  approaching 
our  goal  we  are  tempted  to  hurry  over  the  intermediate  steps. 
When  Biology  had  been  created  in  a  certain  sense,  the 
attempt  was  made  to  found  Morals  v?ithout  having  formed 
(Sociology,  and  there  will  always  be  a  tendency  in  the  individual 
to  repeat  in  his  educational  period  this  natural  but  over  hasty 
process  of  the  evolution  of  the  race.  The  decisive  point  in  my 
career  was  the  construction  of  the  social  science,  and  there  will 
never  be  a  time  when  it  will  not  be  essential  to  give  the  reasons 
for  its  intercalation,  though  the  explanation  no  longer  involves 
the  efforts  and  the  fullness  which  it  required  of  me.  After 
having  studied  first  the  milieu,  then  the  body,  we  must  enter  on 
the  systematic  study  of  the  soul,  by  unveiling  the  laws,  statical 
or  dynamical,  of  the  intelligence  and  activity  of  man,  as 
verified  in  the  collective  existence  of  man,  which  has  direct 
relation  to  the  Great  Being.  Its  examination  leads  us  to  com- 
plete sacred  science  by  studying  the  true  unity  in  order  to 
develope  and  consolidate  the  real  Providence  by  regulating  the 
emotions,  the  thoughts,  and  the  acts  of  its  voluntary  servants. 

The  seven  chapters  of  the  sociological  volume  are  devoted 
to  establishing  the  statical  theories  of  property,  the  family, 
language,  and  society ;  then  to  the  dynamical  theories  of  Fetich- 
ism,  Theocracy,  and  the  threefold  transition  which  completed 
the  education  of  the  race  by  the  developement  of  its  powers. 
The  plan  is,  as  we  see,  a  condensation  of  the  results  of  the  pre- 
sent work,  with  the  introduction  of  no  absolutely  new  conception, 
but  separating  off  Morals,  the  existence  of  which  as  a  distinct 
science  began  in  the  course  of  my  construction,  and  so  could 
not  have  its  proper  influence  upon  it.  As  for  the  study  of  the 
normal  state  in  itself,  that  is  reserved  for  the  last  of  the  sciences, 
the  science  of  which  Sociology  is  the  immediate  preciu-sor.  But 
the  imperative  necessity  for  this  distribution  of  parts  must 
never  throw  into  the  shade  the  strong  affinity  for  one  another  of 
the  two  halves  of  sacred  science,  as  compared  with  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  profane  science.     To  make  it  more  evident,  we 


■Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  203 

may  make  a  third  quaternary  arrangement  of  the  system  of 
Positive  doctrine,  we  might,  that  is,  separate  this  highest  from 
the  two  lower  pairs  of  sciences  by  intercalating  Biology,  as  the 
science  in  which  the  profane  and  the  sacred  effect  a  junction. 

All  the  rest  of  the  present  chapter  relates  exclusively  to  the  The  rest  of 

.  -^  ■*■  the  chapter 

£nal  science,  the  science  to  which  all  our  theories  whatsoever  devoted  to 

Morals. 

normally  converge,  and  from  which  as  from  a  common  source, 
spring  all  our  conceptions  of  action.  Up  to  this  point  all  inves- 
tigation, not  excepting  Sociology,  preserved  its  abstract  and 
introductory  character,  as  a  consequence  of  the  interval,  one,  it 
is  true,  constantly  lessening,  between  the  subject  and  the  object. 
But  in  Morals  the  full  coincidence  of  the  two  ushers  in  the 
■definitive  state  of  human  reason ;  for  in  Morals  the  develope- 
ment  of  objective  analysis  results  in  the  complete  establishrdent 
of  the  subjective  synthesis.  In  a  word,  in  Morals  the  doctrine 
unites  with  the  worship  in  order  to  systematise  the  regime.  It 
is  in  Morals  that  is  effected  the  general  transition  from  the  life 
■of  thought  to  the  life  of  action.      Nevertheless,  the  seventh  The  seventh 

volume  of 

volume  of  the  Second  Philosophy  must  still  retain  the  specula-  the  Abstract 

Encyclopte- 

tive  character  which  has  pervaded  the  whole  scheme,  the  better  ffia. 
to  mark  that  it  terminates  in  a  synthesis.  Such  explanations, 
then,  as  I  here  give,  must  bear  solely  on  the  theory  of  Morals, 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  direct  study  of  man,  reserving  for  the 
following  chapter  their  application  to  practical  Morals,  the  aim 
of  which  is  to  regulate  human  life. 

But  the  treatise  on  the  supreme  science  promised  above,  The  system 
will  not  carry  the  division  between  the  theory  and  practice  of  Morals,  or 
Morals  farther  than  to  make  it  distinguish  between  the  two  unwersai 
volumes  of  which  it  will  consist,  in  agreement  with  its  double  -win  be  in ' 
title  :    '  System  of  Positive  Morals,'  or  '  Treatise  of  Universal  nmea,  the 
Education.'     It  was  under  this  second  title  that  I  naturally  the  seventh 
announced  it  in  1842,  at  the  end  of  my  Philosophy,  in  which  I  the  abstract 
liad   not   yet    separated   Morals   from    Sociology.      Since   the  dia. 
decisive  and  irrevocable  separation  of  the  two  has  been  effected, 
I  have  felt  more  and  more  that  the  direct  study  of  the  art 
which  is  emphatically  human,  must  have  a  special  antecedent  in 
the  construction  of  the  science  which  is  peculiarly  human,  the 
science  which  previously  had  not  attained  distinct  existence. 
This  is  why,  instead  of  the  one  volume  originally  promised, 
the  work  will  be  in  two,  dealing  respectively  with  theoretic 
and  practical  Morals,  as  the  term.  Morals,  hj  a.  happy  ambi- 


204     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


The  religious 
infcruduction 
of  the  vo- 
lume. 


Supremacy 
of  Morals  to 
be  asserted, 
(a)  Logi- 
cally. 


(b)  Sclenti- 
flcally. 


guity  lends  itself  to  such  treatment,  and  serves  as  a  repre- 
sentative for  our  whole  synthesis.  In  the  present  place,  the 
indications  I  offer  must  bear  solely  on  the  first  volume,  the 
seventh  and  last  volume  of  the  Second  Philosophy,  as  it  con- 
structs the  synthetical  science,  on  the  bases  supplied  by  the 
hierarchy  pf  the  analytical  sciences. 

The  religious  introduction  of  this  final  treatise  will  he 
directed,  as  in  the  other  cases,  to  tracing  the  general  plan  of 
the  volume,  and  its  proper  dependence  on  the  phase  next  below 
it  in  the  encyclopaedic  construction.  The  difference  lies  in  the 
greater  importance  and  the  greater  diflSculty  of  these  two 
explanations,  owing  to  the  closer  affinity  evidently  existing 
between  the  two  elements  of  the  sacred  domain,  however 
necessary  it  may  be  on  systematic  grounds  to  separate  them. 
Consequently,  it  will  be  requisite  to  insist  on  this  point  of  their 
distinction,  a  distinction  no  less  indispensable  to  theory  than  to 
practice,  for  it  is  solely  in  virtue  of  it  that  the  analytical  con- 
struction can  have  a  synthetic  conclusion,  as  it  allies  the 
doctrine  with  the  worship  in  order  to  organise  the  regime. 

Distinct  prominence  must  be  given  to  the  superiority  of 
moral  science,  its  logical  and  scientific  superiority,  as  compared 
with  all  the  others,  which  are  but  its  necessary  preparations. 
Thus  only  do  we  grasp  in  its  entire  range  the  Positive  method, 
after  having  appreciated  in  Mathematics,  deduction  ;  in  Astro- 
nomy, observation ;  in  Physics,  experiment ;  in  Chemistry, 
nomenclature ;  in  Biology,  cornparison  ;  in  Sociology,  filiation. 
In  point  of  fact,  the  subjective  method,  the  appanage  of 
Morals,  is  a  seventh  step,  on  which  all  the  others  depend  for 
the  regulation  they  cannot  get  elsewhere,  a  power  derived  from 
the  entire  coincidence  of  the  object  with  the  subject,  whereas 
hitherto  the  two  were  always  apart,  though  tending  more  and 
more  to  union. 

This  coincidence  again  is  the  source  of  the  superiority  of 
moral  science  in  point  of  doctrine,  which  in  no  other  science 
can  attain  complete  rationality.  As  the  human  point  of  view 
is  commingled,  as  a  subjective  element,  with  all  the  aspects  of 
science,  their  preliminary  study  can  gi\e  but  incomplete  notions, 
waiting  for  a  systematisation  derivable  only  from  the  knowledge 
of  man.  Eecognising  this  as  necessary,  still  the  introduction 
formed  by  the  other  sciences  is  none  the  less  objectively  indis- 
pensable to  the  regular  elaboration  of  the  system,  in  obedience 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  205 

to  the  fundamental  law  which  throughout  subjects  the  highest 
phftnomena  to  the  most  elementary. 

Subjective  superiority,  objective  dependence, — such  is  the  TheaouWe 
relation  between  any  two  consecutive   degrees  of  the   encyclo-  subjective 
paedic  scale,  but  in  no  case  is  it  so  applicable  as  in  the  two  last,  tive— most 
The  goal  being  neared,  we  are  in  their  case  more  alive  to  the  the  two 
defective    rationality    of    the    preparatory   sciences,    notwith-  sciences. 
standing  the  greater  difficulty  of  establishing  the  just  distinc- 
tion between   the  two.     Profane  science  having  in  its  own  way 
given  us  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the  milieu,  and  that  of 
the  body  as  its  complement ;  sacred  science  enters  on  the  syste- 
matic study  of  the   soul,  by  analysing  our  collective  existence, 
first  from  the  statical,  then  from  the  dynamical  point  of  view. 
But,  though  indispensable  as  a  preliminary,  this  process  is  only 
a  last  preparation,  the  incompleteness  of  which  we  cannot  but 
allow.     We  feel  in  regard  to  it  that,  as  the  intellect  and  acti- 
vity are  studied  by  themselves  apart  from  the  emotional  nature, 
we  are  left  to  judge  results  alone,  their  origin  and  their  purpose 
being  questions  for  the  following  science.     If,  in  the  present 
■work,  the  false  position  in  which  the  mind  is  thus  placed  is  not 
obvious,  it  is  due  solely  to  this,  that  the  elaboration  of  Morals  is 
therein,  by  a  spontaneous  process,  blended  inseparably  with  the 
construction  of  Sociology.     Similarly,  in  my  '  Philosophy,'  I  was 
enabled  provisionally  to  shirk  the  obligation  to  create   social 
statics  prior  to  attacking  social  dynamics,  by  attending  inci- 
dentally to  existence,  as  occasion  offered,  in  the  course  of  the 
study  of  movement. 

Without  any  illusion  as  to  the  character  and  object  of  the  comte'sown 
twofold  mission  devolving  on  me,  as  the  result  of  the  whole  wko?  flnai 
antecedent  evolution  of  the  race,   I  have  always  been  aware  tfon?™"  '^^ 
that  the  full  execution  of  the  final  construction  would  belong 
to  my  successors.     What  was  reserved  for  me  was  to  lay  its 
immediate  basis,  and  to  characterise  its  spirit  after  having  con- 
ceived its   plan.     In  a  word  it  was  for   me   to  institute  the 
Positive  religion,  it  was  not  for  me  to  constitute  it.     Superior 
as   is   my  religious    construction    in    point  of    system   to   my 
philosophical   creation,  the  present  work-  cannot    achieve   the 
complete  rationality  which  was  ever  my  aspiration.     For  the 
normal  distinction    between   Sociology  and   Morals,  which  is 
capital  as  regards  the  synthesis,  arose  whilst  I  was  effecting  a 
construction  over  which  it  ought  to  have  presided.     The  atti- 


206     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


The  seven 
chapters  of 
the  treatise 
on  Morals. 


The  three 
first  chap- 
ters. 


The  four 

remaining 

chapters. 


Detailed  ex- 
planation of 
the  fourth 


tude  required  for  the  creation  of  a  strictly  dogmatic  system 
could  be  finally  taken  only  in  this  fourth  volume  as  a  result  of 
the  whole  series  of  preparatory  labours ;  labours  I  venture  to 
say,  as  much  needed  for  the  public  as  for  myself.  What  I  have 
to  do  at  present  then  is  to  complete  my  exposition  of  the  true 
character  of  a  definitive  systematisation,  in  which,  at  the  actual 
stage  of  my  career,  the  normal  execution  of  two  works  only 
falls  to  me,  the  two  extremes  of  the  Second  Philosophy ;  between 
them  my  successors  will  intercalate  five  indispensable  treatises. 
Enough  having  been  said  on  the  introduction  of  the  last 
volume  of  the  abstract  encyclopaedia,  I  must  examine,  in  more 
detail  than  in  the  case  of  the  others, .its  seven  chapters. 

I  shall  devote  the  three  first  to  establishing  systematically 
the  general  doctrines  which  form  the  immediate  basis  of  moral 
science  as  a  whole.  The  first  chapter  will  state  the  Positive 
theory  of  human  nature,  under  the  guidance  of  my  subjective 
conception  of  the  consensus  of  the  brain.  On  the  basis  thus 
laid,  the  second  chapter  will  construct  the  theory  of  the  Grreat 
Being,  the  Being  in  which  alone  we  can  trace  on  a  decisive 
scale  the  developement  of  this  consensus.  Then  it  will  be 
possible  in  the  third  chapter,  without  any  preliminaries,  to 
establish  the  definitive  theory  of  true  unity,  as  its  nature  and 
origin  have  been  already  determined.  Evidently  then  the 
present  work  contains  all  the  great  primary  principles  of  the 
one  announced,  not  however  in  such  a  form  as  to  dispense  with 
their  synthetical  elaboration. 

In  the  other  four  chapters  of  this  last  volume,  the  immediate 
object  is  the  construction  of  the  indivisible  science  of  man,  by 
laying  down  the  real  laws  of  human  existence  in  its  normal 
form,  with  full  recognition  of  the  external  necessities  to  which 
man  is  subject.  The  fourth  chapter  will  deal  with  the  body, 
the  study  of  which  in  Biology  could  only  be  preliminary,  even 
as  regards  the  lower  animals,  from  want  of  the  notions  relating 
to  the  brain  which  are  indispensable  to  a  right  conception  of 
its  consensus.  After  this,  the  direct  and  special  object  of  the 
three  last  chapters  will  be  the  study  of  the  soul ;  in  them  we 
shall  lay  down  the  general  laws  of  human  existence  as  a  synthe- 
sis of  the  affections  in  the  first  place ;  then  of  the  intelligence  ; 
lastly  of  activity. 

In  regard  to  the  work  in  question,  which  alone  wiU  give 
the  full  conception  of  the  Second  Philosophy  as  a  system,  I 


Chap,  ni.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  207 

am  bound  to  explain  more  particularly  the  character  and  object  chapter. 
of  the  middle  chapter,  that  in  which  we  effect  once  for  all  of  vital 
the  normal  fusion  of  the  profane  with  the  sacred  domain.     The     *"°°°^' 
right   understanding  of  this  chapter  is  more  calculated  than 
anything  else  to  set  in  a  clear  light  the  ultimate  unity  of  the 
Positive  doctrine,  all  the  several  elements  of  which  will  thus  be 
shown  to  cooperate  in  the  direct  solution  of  the  most  important 
problem  in  the  science  of  man.     The  aim  of  this  decisive  chapter 
is  mainly  this :  to  delineate  the  consensus,  the  indispensable 
consensus  between  our  bodily  existence  and  our  cerebral  life, 
the  end  in  view  being  the  perfecting  the  one  and  the   other  by 
the  aid  of  their  mutual  influence. 

The  principal  point  in  the  work  under  consideration  is  to   The  mam 
give  completeness  and  system  to  my  subjective  theory  of  the  systematise 
brain,  proceeding  on  the  logical  and  scientific  bases  laid  down  tiTc  theory 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  present  treatise.     To  do  this  I  must 
first  deal  with  the  external  functions  of  the  central  apparatus, 
particularly  with  the  part  it  plays  in  sensation,  on  which  point 
my  original  remarks  are  not  sufficiently  clear.     As  with  the 
organs    of  the   soul,  so  I  must  determine   by  the    subjective 
method  the  number  and  position  of  the  cerebral  ganglia  which 
preside  over  the  relations  of  the  organism  with   the  milieu,  so 
far  as  it  is  the  source  of  impressions. 

This  inquiry  involves,  as  a  preliminary,  the  enumeration  of  Determma- 
the  senses,  properly  so-called.  Now  the  ultimate  conclusion  number  of 
which  I  feel  bound  to  adopt  is,  that  there  are  eight  really  dis-  They™T" 
tinct  senses,  one  general,  the  sense  of  touch,  and  seven  special : 
the  muscular  sense,  the  sense  of  taste,  the  sense  of  heat,  the 
sense  of  smell,  the  sense  of  hearing,  of  sight,  and  of  electricity. 
I  rank  the  seven  following  Grail  and  Blainville,  on  the  principle 
of  increase  in  speciality,  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  pheno- 
mena to  which  they  correspond,  and  measured  by  the  succession 
of  their  appearance  in  the  animal  series.  The  first  and  last 
alone  require  any  special  explanation.  For  the  first,  I  adopt 
substantially  the  opinion  of  Blainville,  who  distinguished  it 
from  the  general  sense  of  pressure  and  assigned  to  it  the  direct 
appreciation  of  muscular  efforts  and  of  the  fatigue  consequent 
on  them.  As  for  the  last,  its  feeble  habitual  developement  in 
man  must  not  prevent  our  recognising  its  distinct  existence,  in 
some  animals  very  strongly  marked,  and  more  or  less  common 
to  all  the  vertebrata.     For  each  of  the  eight  senses  we  must 


eight. 


208     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


A  cerebral 
ganglion 
admitted  for 
each  sense. 


The  ganglia 
of  touch, 
muscula- 
tion, sight, 
and  hearing. 


The  motor 
iunctions. 
Innervation , 


admit  separate  nerves,  nerves  not  so  easily  traceable,  but  quite 
as  independent,  as  those  of  sight  and  hearing  ;  unless  we  do  so 
the  functions  which  the  nerves  subserve  would  remain  as  indis- 
tinct as  they  would  be  if  we  had  only  the  lower  organisms  to 
draw  inferences  from. 

The  same  reasoning  leads  us  to  admit  for  each  sense,  the 
necessary  existence  of  a  cerebral  ganglion,  in  which  the  nervous 
apparatus  terminates,  equally  when  it  has  a  circumscribed  sphere 
of  action,  as  when  it  extends  to  the  whole  of  the  integument,  in- 
ternal or  external.  Since  contemplation takesplaceequallythough 
the  senses  involved  differ,  its  organ  must  be  distinct  from  theirs. 
Nevertheless  these  latter  must  be  nearer  the  speculative  region 
of  the  brain  than  the  two  other  regions,  with  which  they  have 
no  direct  relation.  Neither,  again,  have  they  with  the  organs 
of  meditation,  so  that  their  position  is  necessarily  under  the 
organ  of  contemplation,  so  to  avoid  any  disturbance  of  the 
operations  of  the  intellect  by  lying  athwart  their  organs.  But 
as  it  is  the  knowledge  of  phenomena  rather  than  of  beings  that 
the  senses  give  us,  their  analytical  character  requires  a  position 
adjacent  to  that  of  abstract  contemplation.  This  decision  finds 
support  in  the  obligation  to  place  them  on  the  median  line, 
in  order  that  the  symmetrical  impressions  may  be  in  sufficient 
agreement.  As  for  the  site  of  each  of  the  eight  sensitive  ganglia 
in  particular,  all  I  can  do  at  present  is  to  give  an  idea,  taking  the 
easier  cases,  of  a  complementary  explanation  which  has  its  proper 
place  in  the  promised  work. 

Looking  at  the  pre-eminent  importance  and  the  greater 
diffusion  of  the  sense  of  touch,  always  common  to  both  the  ex- 
ternal and  internal  integument,  its  ganglion  must  be  nearest 
the  organ  of  contemplation,  thus  better  informed  of  the  general 
state  of  the  envelope,  mucous  membrane  or  skin.  The  gang- 
lion of  musculation  marches  with  the  active  region  of  the  brain, 
in  order  that  its  impressions  may  afifect  in  an  equal  degree  the 
three  portions  of  the  apparatus  which  regulates  movement, 
excited,  controlled,  or  sustained.  On  a  comparison  of  the 
senses  of  sight  and  hearing,  the  one  more  intellectual,  the  other 
more  social,  we  see  that  the  respective  ganglia  of  the  two  must 
be  placed,  that  of  sight  nearer  the  faculty  of  synthesis,  that  of 
hearing  nearer  the  instinct  of  sympathy. 

As  for  the  other  division  of  the  external  functions  of  the 
brain  our  remarks  for  the  present  may  be  less  detailed.     To 


-Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  209 

avoid  all  exaggeration  on  this  point,  we  must  consider  it  the 
function  of  innervation  to  stimulate  contractions  which  the 
muscular  fibre  can  effect  of  itself,  and  which  are  effected  in 
the  animals  which  are  without  nerves.  The  close  solidarity 
which  characterises  the  motor  apparatus,  the  various  parts  of 
which  can  supply  the  place  of  one  another  reciprocally,  does 
not  require,  and  does  not  even  allow  of,  any  special  ganglion, 
but  does  demand  a  direct  relation  with  the  active  region  of  the 
brain.  To  afford  such  connection  is  the  great  function  of  the  spinai  cord, 
spinal  cord,  which  also  affords  a  rallying  point  for  the  impres- 
sions of  touch.  The  only  serious  modification  of  this  connection 
is  due  to  the  distinctions  relating  to  the  will,  which  condenses 
the  whole  cerebral  existence.  But  the  division  of  movements 
into  involuntary  and  voluntary  resolves  itself  into  this,  that  we 
substitute  intermittent  for  continuous  action.  This  done,  and 
putting  aside  spontaneous  contractions,  we  recognise  that  in- 
nervation is  always  voluntary  in  its  origin,  though  it  may 
become  involuntary  in  its  results  by  long  habit. 

After  this  introduction  with  its  two  divisions,  the  chapter  The  relation 
under  consideration  has  for  its  main  subject  the  relations  of  oipai  region 
the  principal  region  of  the  brain  with  the  body.  The  system  to  the 
of  these  relations  will  constitute  the  theory,  a  theory  in  outline 
so  adequately  sketched  by  Cabanis,  of  the  general  connection  of 
the  physical  and  moral  nature  of  man..  But  to  constitute  it  we 
must  begin  by  drawing  a  fundamental  distinction  between  the 
two  simultaneous  influences  constantly  exerted  by  the  body 
upon  the  brain,  through  the  blood-vessels  or  the  nerves,  the 
two  bonds  of  union  between  the  life  of  nutrition  and  the  life  of 
relation.  Common  to  all  the  regions  of  the  brain  and  indis- 
pensable for  all,  the  action  of  the  blood  which  oppresses  or 
stimulates  according  to  the  mode  and  degree  of  its  supply,  only 
so  far  concerns  the  affective  apparatus  more  than  the  others,  in 
that  this  portion  of  the  brain  predominates  by  itself  and  has 
connections  with  the  other  parts.  Over  and  above  this  general 
influence,  the  centre  of  the  brain  has  a  particular  connection 
with  the  body  through  the  special  nerves  of  nutrition.  These 
nerves  perform  for  nutrition,  though  with  less  energy,  a  service 
in  the  way  of  perfecting  it,  analogous  to  that  which  the  nerves 
of  motion  perform  for  tlie  muscular  functions.  More  necessary 
the  higher  the  organism,  the  relation  between  the  viscera  of 
organic  life  and  the  brain,  a  relation  which  equally,  whether 

VOL.  IV.  p 


210      SYSTEM  OP  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Intimate 
connection 
of  the  ves- 
sels and 


Further 
specification 
of  the  rela- 
tion between 
the  vegetal 
life  and  the 
brain. 


active  or  passive,  is  unconscious,  is  concentrated  by  means  of  a 
triple  series  of  ganglionic  communications,  which  serve  the 
further  purpose  of  increasing  the  solidarity  of  the  motor  organs- 
and  even  of  the  organs  of  tact. 

Such  are  the  two  sources,  the  one  general,  the  other  special, 

of  the  relation  between  man's  physical  and  moral  nature.     They 

nerves 7n  the  come  into  direct  combination  by  virtue  of  the  close  connection- 

hisfher  or- 

ganisms.  peculiar  to  the  higher  organisms,  between  the  vessels  and  nerves, 
which  everywhere  mutually  aid  one  another,  for  nutrition  and  for 
stimulation.  But  the  doctrine  of  vital  harmony,  to  be  suffi- 
ciently precise,  demands  more  detail  on  the  mutual  relation 
between  the  organic  life  and  the  cerebral  existence. 

In  the  first  volume  of  this  work,  I  limited  the  relation  to 
the  affective  region  of  the  brain,  since  for  the  two  other  regions 
we  can  admit  a  direct  connection  solely  with  the  outer  world, 
for  movements  or  impressions.  By  a  further  application  of  the 
same  principle  the  relation  is  restricted  to  the  self-regarding 
instincts,  the  only  instincts  which  are  concerned  with  the  within; 
so  that  the  organs  of  sympathy  are  connected  with  the  life  of 
nutrition  only  by  virtue  of  their  special  relations  with  the 
egoistic  propensities.  But  with  them  we  must  also  exclude  the 
two  noblest  personal  affections,  vanity  and  pride,  as  being 
directed  on  the  without  equally  with  the  social  affections, 
though  with  a  different  object.  As  a  last  application  of  the 
same  principle,  we  eliminate,  as  not  within  the  scope  of  this 
particular  relation,  the  two  instincts  of  improvement,  destruc- 
tive or  constructive,  for  they  are  in  as  close  connection  with  the 
environment,  as  the  active  region  of  the  brain  which  they  com- 
mand. This  suite  of  restrictions  leads  ultimately  to  the 
limitation  of  the  special  relations  between  the  body  and  the 
brain  to  the  three  instincts  of  conservation. 

But  again,  in  regard  to  these  three,  a  broad  distinction 
must  be  drawn,  founded  on  the  nature  and  function  of  the  several 
organs.  In  all  the  higher  animals,  the  two  instincts  that  relate 
to  the  preservation  of  the  species  may  be  set  aside,  almost 
as  completely  as  those  which  directly  bear  on  this  external 
world.  They  have  no  immediate  connection  but  with  their 
respective  viscera,  the  one  as  regards  the  germs,  the  other  as 
concerns  the  offspring.  There  is  a  difference  in  this  respect 
between  the  sexes,  especially  in  the  human  species,  the  sexual 
instinct  being  more  developed  in  man,  the  maternal  in  woman. 


Limitation 
to  the  three 
instincts  of 
conserva- 
tion. 

Distinction 
between  the 
three  cases. 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  211 

For  the  due  appreciation  of  this  difference,  I  must  intimate 
that  the  organic  viscera  which  correspond  to  these  two  instincts, 
over  and  above  their  direct  and  special  action  on  the  brain, 
affect  it  indirectly  through  the  blood  it  receives.  In  fact  the 
fluids  they  secrete  are  always  susceptible  of  reabsorption  into 
the  system  when  they  are  not  discharged.  The  reaction  of 
these  fluids,  the  more  normal  the  higher  the  organism,  is  to 
stimulate  or  calm,  according  as  it  proceeds  from  the  fertilising 
or  the  alimentary  liquid. 

It    follows    that    we  raust    restrict    the    special   relations  Thenutri- 
between  the  life  of  the  body  and  the  life  of  the  brain  to  the  corre-  tuTairSy 
lation  between  the  nutritive  apparatus  and  the  instinct  of  self-  oniywiththe 
preservation,  both  in  their  own  way  bound  up  with  the  whole  nutrition. 
economy  of  which  they  are  parts.     Paramount  and  unintermit-  not  forget 
ting  however  as  this  connection  is,  it  must  never  put  out  of  connections. 
sight  those  which  are  due  to  fecundation  or  lactation.     Finally, 
if  we  would  systematise  the  vital  harmony,  we  must  ever  com- 
bine these  special  ties  with  the  general  tie  furnished  by  the 
blood. 

In  this  combination  we  see  the  natm-e  and  the  difficulty  of  Together, 
the  theory  to  be  explained  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  seventh  number, 
volume,  which  deals  directly  with  all  the  relations  whatsoever  of  toexpwu 
man's  physical  with  his  moral  constitution.     The  three  influences  of  the  physi- 
just   indicated    suffice   to  explain  all   the  normal  interactions,  moral  con- 
and    even    those    originating   in   disease,   whether   mental   or  man. 
bodily ;    and  as  a  consequence,  medicine  re-enters,  on   system, 
the  domain  of  sacred  science.     To  show  more  clearly  that  this 
capital  property  resides  in  the  three,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place 
to  instance  it  in  the  case  of  Dreams,  where  the  two  distinct 
investigations  of  disturbance  and  agreement  are  found  in  spon- 
taneous combination. 

When  constructing  social  dynamics,  I  lamented  the  disuse  ThePosi- 
imposed  by  Monotheism  on  the  polytheistic  inquiries  into  this  of  Dreams. 
important  phenomenon,  and  I  anticipated  the  systematic 
resumption  of  such  inquiries  in  the  ultimate  state  of  human 
reason.  We  have  now  reached  the  point  at  which  we  can  under- 
stand the  Positive  grounds  for  such  resumption,  to  be  given  at 
length  in  the  promised  work.  By  the  aid  of  the  three  influences 
above  mentioned,  we  can  appreciate  the  direct,  nay  even  the 
indirect,  modifications  of  our  internal  life,  whether  bodily  ro 
.  cerebral,  due  to  the  suspension  of  all  relations  with  the  exter- 

p  2 


212     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Sleep. 


Connection 
of  the  vital 
harmony 
with  the 
feminine 
Utopia. 


The  nervous 
and  vascu- 
lar syBtems 
more  de- 
veloped in 
woman. 
She  i3  the 
best  type  of 
the  relations 
'between  the 
brain  and 
body. 


Utopia  of 
the  Virgin- 
Mother. 


nal  world.  This  implies,  however,  that,  realising  the  wish  of 
Cabanis,  we  have  previously  formed  sounder  views  of  sleep  than 
those  which  as  yet  prevail.  According  to  my  theory  of  the 
brain,  sleep  never  has  the  character  of  a  purely  passive  state, 
the  affective  life  persisting  during  sleep  quite  as  much  as  the 
vegetal.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  objects  of  direct  cog- 
nisance, they  produce  appreciable  results  by  modifying  the 
intelligence  and  even  the  activity,  more  profoundly  even  than 
when  their  influence  is  complicated  with  that  of  environment. 
Adopting  this  principle,  the  sacred  science  will  be  enabled  to 
reduce  to  system  the  subjective  interpretation  of  Dreams,  to  the 
point  of  directing  their  course  by  means  of  suitable  impressions, 
derived  from  the  brain  or  the  body. 

To  complete  the  exposition  of  the  theory  of  vital  harmony, 
I  have  to  point  out  its  legitimate  connection  with  the  bold 
hypothesis  I  ventured,  in  the  last  chapter,  on  the  limitation  to 
women  of  the  function  of  reproduction. 

The  higher  the  organism,  the  more  extensive  naturally 
become  the  inter-reactions  of  the  physical  and  moral  constitu- 
tion, and  this  as  a  consequence  of  the  relations  between  the 
three  kinds  of  nerves  and  the  vessels  assuming  greater  im- 
portance as  compared  with  the  purely  vegetative  functions. 
Now,  in  this  respect,  woman  is  superior  to  man,  by  virtue  of  a 
more  complete  developement  of  the  nervous  and  vascular  systems. 
Woman  is  naturally  qualified  to  be  the  highest  type  of  the 
mutual  influence  of  the  cerebral  and  bodily  life.  This  superiority 
in  organisation  has  been  aided,  and  that  increasingly,  by  the 
social  position  of  woman,  for  by  it  she  has  been,  step  by  step, 
set  free  from  the  pressure  of  active  life,  and  made  more  and 
more  amenable  to  the  influence  of  the  emotions,  especially  of 
the  sympathetic  emotions.  When  the  Positive  reorganisation  of 
opinions  and  manners  shall  have  given  women  the  first  place 
in  the  Sociocracy,  their  share  in  reproduction  will  be  largely 
increased,  as  a  result  of  their  increasing  accessibility  to  the 
combined  influences  of  continuity. 

If  so,  the  Utopia  of  the  Virgin  Mother  wiU  become,  for  the 
purer  and  nobler  women,  an  ideal  limit,  well  adapted  to  stand 
as  the  concise  expression  of  human  progress,  carried  to  the 
point  of  systematising  and  so  ennobling  procreation.  This  adapta- 
tion of  the  theory  will  always  be  independent  of  its  realisation 
in  practice,  provided  only  that  it  be  looked  upon  as  realisable, 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTKINE.  213 

by  virtue  of  the  power  over  its  own  organisation,  even  its  phy- 
sical organisation,  possessed  by  the  species  most  susceptible  of 
modification,  a  power  of  which  as  yet  we  have  only  witnessed 
the  faint  beginnings.  As  success  must  depend  principally  on  the 
general  developement  of  the  relations  between  soul  and  body,  the 
persistent  effort  to  solve  the  problem  will  place  on  a  sound 
footing  the  systematic  study  of  the  vital  consensus,  as  it  will 
supply  at  once  the  noblest  end  and  the  best  instruments. 

Summary  as  these  remarks  must  necessarily  be,  they  seem  Thesyn- 
to  me  to  define  with  sufficient  clearness  the  character  and  object  ciueion  of 
of  the  most  critical  chapter  in  the  whole  of  my  elaboration  of  on  Morals. 
moral  science.     In  reference  to  the  treatise  in  which  the  Second 
Philosophy  receives  its  complete  and  systematic  form,  all  that 
remains  is  to  explain  its  synthetical  conclusion,  which  will   be 
'  the  general  summary  of  the  abstract,  and  the  immediate  soinrce 
of  the  concrete,  encyclopsedia. 

In  natural   correspondence  with   the  introduction  already  Theregene- 

1     .1  T      7  .n        .  .  •         J         1         ration  of 

examined,  the  conclusion  will  give  prominent  expression  to  the  profane 

1  •  r  t*  t  •!  •  science. 

capital  renovation  or  profane  science,  due  to  its  amalgamation  (a)  Logi- 
with  the  sacred  science.  From  the  logical  point  of  view,  the 
continuous  application  of  the  subjective  method  will  by  this 
time  have  evidenced  its  intrinsic  superiority  to  the  objective 
in  all  its  forms.  Whilst  the  supreme  science  offers  the  only 
possible  connection  of  the  six  preliminary  sciences,  its  method 
alone  can  systematise  deduction  and  the  five  modes  of  induction 
which  answer  to  these  sciences. '  Suppress  this  two-fold  service, 
and  analysis  could  never  have  issued  in  synthesis,  where  the 
doctrine  allies  itself  with  the  worship  with  a  view  to  the  regime. 
And  it  is  in  this  synthesis  only  that  we  can  fully  appreciate  the 
intellectual  efficacy  of  feeling,  the  sole  possible  source  of  any 
systematic  construction.  In  principle,  we  had  an  indication  of 
its  power  in  this  respect  in  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  feeling 
in  regard  to  the  continuity  of  our  cerebral  life,  which  it  alone 
upholds  during  sleep  and  in  spite  of  disease.  But  for  this,  its 
general  influence,  to  exhibit  the  true  logic,  it  is  requisite  that 
moral  science  give  prominence  in  particular  to  the  combination 
of  feelings  with  images  and  signs,  the  combination  which  is 
destined  to  regenerate  even  Mathematics,  as  I  explained  at  the 
outset. 

This  grand   result  of  intellectual  progress  finds  direct  ex-  This  result 
pression  in    the    systematic   incorporation  of  Fetichism   with  thetararpoi 


214     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUE^E  OF  MAN. 


ration  of 
Fetichism. 


(6)  Scienti- 
fically. 


Morals  de- 
rive disci- 
pline from 
within. 


Positivism.  Originating  in  feeling  and  sanctioned  for  the 
purposes  of  art,  the  fusion  of  the  two  is  no  less  applicable  in 
science,  as  aiding  it  to  perfect  the  lower  speculations  by 
assimilating  them  to  the  higher.  In  the  maturity  of  human 
reason,  the  Positivist  hands  over  to  the  Fetichist  spirit  the  whole 
domain  of  profane  science,  reserving  to  itself  that  of-  sacred 
science,  once  the  property  of  Theologism,  which  finally  dis- 
appears. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  science,  Morals,  as  the  supreme 
science,  establishes  for  all  the  other  sciences  a  discipline  they 
cannot  reject,  a  discipline  as  useful  for  guidance  as  for  control, 
in  which  the  intellect  and  the  heart  concur.  Previously,  even 
when  best  directed,  the  intellect  could  only  attain  an  unsatis- 
factory rationality,  for  its  investigations,  if  they  had  a  basis, 
wanted  an  aim,  in  the  absence  of  the  persistent  subordination 
of  analysis  to  synthesis.  On  reaching  Morals,  reason  may  con- 
gratulate itself  on  having  duly  undergone  this  series  of  pre- 
paratory efforts,  as  necessary  for  its  systematisation  in  its  normal 
state  on  the  basis  of  the  instinctive  suggestions  of  feeling.  The 
several  theories,  hitherto  provisional  and  precarious,  now  appear 
in  their  true  character,  as  necessary  elements  of  a  science  which 
is  inherently  indivisible,  a  science  in  which  theory  is  in  direct 
contact  with  practice.  Never  treated  as  purely  arbitrary,  the 
divisions  of  the  sciences  assume  in  Morals  the  character  of 
artifices  invented  to  facilitate  a  study  which  must  long  be 
abstract,  previous  to  acquiring  the  concrete  character  which  is 
the  result  of  an  entire  coincidence  of  subject  and  object.  Ee- 
jecting  idle  enquiries,  the  great  problems  come  forward,  problems 
which  previously  escaped  the  intellect,  for  this  reason,  that 
whilst  compelled  to  select  its  true  sphere  from  an  immense 
multitude  of  questions  open  to  it,  it  bad  no  principle  to  guide 
it  in  its  choice.  The  nobler  theories,  no  longer  hampered  by 
the  suggestions  of  empiricism,  become  the  object  of  systematic 
attention,  in  proportion  as  the  direct  study  of  the  soul  demands 
a  larger  knowledge  of  the  Great  Being  which  it  is  to  serve,  of 
the  body  on  which  it  depends,  or  of  the  environment  to  which 
it  is  subject. 

The  discipline  seems  to  fail  in  the  case  of  the  science  to 
which  we  owe  it,  and  yet  which  is  exposed  to  an  inroad  of  mis- 
directed enquiries,  if  studied  in  too  abstract  a  spirit.  But  the 
same  principle  suffices  for  its  regulation  by  virtue  of  the  direct 


<!hap.  III.]  THE  DOCTRINE.  215 

■correlation  which  exists  in  Morals  alone  between  theory  and 
-practice.  The  study  which,  as  its  direct  teaching,  asserts  the 
supremacy  of  feeling  can  never  lead  us  to  ignore  the  truth, 
-that  feeling,  as  the  general  motor  power  of  human  existence, 
finds  a  better  encouragement  in  its  exertion,  whether  that 
•exertion  take  the  shape  of  action  or  be  limited  to  an  artistic 
form,  than  in  any  scientific  grasp  of  its  own  peculiar  laws.  So 
we  find  the  fundamental  law  by  which  the  degree  of  cultivation 
•of  each  science  depends  on  the  requirements  of  the  science  next 
above  it,  embracing  even  the  last  science,  where  we  have  the 
•completion  of  the  abstract,  with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  the 
.concrete,  encyclopsedia.  To  suit  the  formula  of  the  law  to  this 
extension,  all  we  have  to  do  is,  if  theoricians,  to  give  the  term 
.science  as  large  a  comprehension  as  practicians  do ;  the  instinct 
•of  synthesis  in  practicians  including  in  science  all  the  precepts 
of  human  wisdom,  whether  practical  or  theoretic. 

The  conception  of  the  Universal  order  becomes  full  and  in  Morals 
•definitive  only  in   MoTals,  for  it  is  there  that  the  laws  of  the  theconcep- 

•^  ...     tionof 

lower  phenomena  are  brought  into  systematic  connection  with  therniver- 

sal  order 

those  of  the  higher,  as  a  result  of  the  perfect  completeness  of  become  de- 
the  methods  and  doctrines.  Condensed  in  Man,  according  to  the  complete. 
admirable  anticipation  of  Antiquity,  the  whole  order  at  length 
combines  coherence  and  dignity.  Its  greater  relative  perfection 
in  regard  to  the  lower  phenomena  is  attributed  justly  to  their 
greater  simplicity.  We  feel  that  the  model  which  they  uncon- 
sciously furnish,  ought  to  be,  and  may  be,  exceeded  by 
the  systematic  exertion  of  the  true  Providence.  In  fact,  the 
existence  of  man  will  surpass  in  regularity  the  order  of  the 
heavens,  for  in  this  latter  the  perturbations  take  the  first  place 
as  soon  as  there  is  any  complication  of  the  forces  at  work.  But, 
whilst  it  puts  out  to  the  full  this  superiority,  the  Grreat  Being  will 
never  cease  to  reverence  the  type  which  was  the  natural  guide 
of  its  infancy.  The  fusion  of  Fetichism  in  Positivism  will 
enable  man  at  all  times  to  evince  his  just  gratitude  towards  the 
order  to  which  he  is  subject. 

By  their  combination  with  the  laws  of  Morals,  the  sole  im-  Physical 
mediate  objects  of  consciousness,  a  combination  effected  through  rationality 
the  medium  of  the  laws  of  the  intellect,  laws  implied  through-  binedwitii 
out,  if  not  expressed,  physical  laws  become  rational  in  a  degree 
which  they  could  not  by  themselves  attain.     The  last  of  the 
sciences  should  consolidate  as  well  as  complete  the  order  which 


iil6     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY,     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN.. 


The  Third 
Philoso- 
phy. 

Next  point, 
the  connec- 
tion of  the 
Concrete 
■with  the 
Abstract 
Bncyclopse- 
dia. 


The  idea  of 
such  a  com- 
plement 
traceable  in 
the  previous 
programme 
in  connec- 
tion with 
the  second 
volume  of 
the  treatise 
on  Morals, 


Education 
the  first  of 
the  Arts. 


Then  come 
the  special 
arts  whicll 


began  with  the  first  by  giving  its  full  effect  to  this  inter- 
dependence, a  point  hitherto  unnoticed,  which  establishes  a» 
mutuality  between  the  several  demonstrations  of  the  invariabihty 
of  nature.  Notwithstanding  this,  from  the  independence,  a^ 
between  themselves,  of  the  laws  of  Physics,  there  will  always 
attach  a  certain  empirical  character  to  the  order  to  which  they 
belong,  though  its  simplicity  made  it  originally  the  type  of 
regularity.  But  by  the  absorption  of  Fetichism  by  Positivism, 
we  are  enabled  to  systematise  the  solidarity  above  indicated,  as 
we  thereby  assimilate  the  external  to  the  human  order,  thus 
made  the  subjective  source  of  the  universal  synthesis.  Retain- 
ing for  Fetichism  its  old  domain,  nay  enlarging  it  so  as  to, 
include  abstract  contemplation,  Positivity  commits  to  it  the 
function  of  giving  the  indispensable  consecration  to  the  economy 
in  which  we  live,  and  in  which  without  such  consecration  our 
gratitude  could  be  paid  only  to  beings  whose  existence  is  a. 
chimera. 

The  synthetical  conclusion  of  the  last  volume  of  the  Second 
Philosophy  thus  adequately  treated,  the  scientific  encyclopaedia 
has  been  duly  set  forth.  In  no  better  way  could  I  present  it  as 
a  whole  than  by  naming  separately  each  of  the  seven  treatises 
which,  in  hierarchical  succession,  are  to  constitute  it,  the  two 
extremes  alone  being  reserved  for  me  to  execute.  But  the  full 
inauguration  of  the  definitive  systematisation  of  Positive  doc- 
trine requires  me  to  terminate  this  chapter  by  pointing  out  the 
normal  aflBliation  of  the  concrete,  to  the  abstract,  encyclopaedia.. 

The  first  trace  of  this  complementary  work  may  be  found  in 
the  treatise  of  which  I  have  just  sketched  the  plan.  For  it  is 
to  consist — by  the  engagement  above  taken — of  two  volumes, 
and  as  yet  I  have  only  spoken  of  the  first.  There  was  no  need 
to  give  any  particular  attention  to  the  second,  sufficiently  ex- 
plained in  the  '  General  View,'  and  as  a  result  of  the  whole  of 
the  present  chapter,  not  to  speak  of  the  opening  of  the  next. 
But  this  second  volume,  as  the  last  of  the  treatise  which  con- 
cludes the  abstract  encyclopsedia,  connects  it  naturally  with 
the  concrete,  as  it  is  the  passage  from  the  theory  to  the  prac- 
tice of  Morals.  Education  is  in  fact  the  first  of  the  arts,  the 
only  art  which  is  entirely  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term  general, 
the  art  which  perfects  action  by  improving  the  agent. 

Availing  ourselves  of  the  transition  education  offers,  a  tran- 
sition as  spontaneous  as  it  is  systematic,  we  must  now  bring 


Chap.  III.]  THE  DOCTEINE.  217 

before  our  minds,  as  a  direct  object,  the  arrangement  of  the  require  oo- 

•^  °  ordiuation. 

concrete  encyclopaedia,  as  it  regards  the  whole  system  of  the 
special  arts,  no  longer  the  arts  which  concern  man,  but  those 
which  deal  exclusively  with  the  external  world.  Their  need 
of  coordination  made  itself  deeply  felt  during  the  last  phase  of 
the  modern  revolution,  as  a  result  of  the  near  approach  of  the 
Positive  state  under  the  impulse  given  by  Descartes,  most 
powerfully  seconded  by  Diderot.  But  attempts  of  a  necessarily 
empirical  character  only  served  to  point  out,  in  a  confused  way, 
the  end  to  be  aimed  at,  with  no  other  definite  results  save  an 
useless  accumulation  of  technical  treatises.  As  every  art  ought 
to  be  learnt  solely  by  judicious  practice,  these  books,  calcu- 
lated to  disturb  rather  than  regulate  our  advance  in  skill,  are 
of  no  value  except  from  the  historical  point  of  view,  so  far, 
that  is,  as  they  looked  to  science,  as  a  whole,  to  supply  an 
addition,  the  nature  of  which  had  been  hitherto  misapprehended. 
And  yet,  the  necessity  to  abstract  in  order  to  generalise,  and 
the  impossibility  of  discovering  the  laws  of  concrete  phenomena, 
even  when  we  combine  dogmatism  with  empiricism,  seem  to 
preclude  the  real  systematisation  of  the  industrial  arts. 

The  fact  is,  they  do  not  admit  of  coordination  in  detail,  for  They  admit , 
multiply  precepts  as   we  might   they  would  never  meet  the  ordination 
variety  of  individual  cases.     But  man's  action  upon  the  world 
as  a  whole,  can  be,  and  ought  to  be,  systematised  on  the  basis  system  of 
of  the  systematisation  of  his  scientific  conception  of  that  world,  industry. 
This  is  the  proper  object  of  a  work  which  I  projected  at  the 
very  beginning  of  my  career,  promised  afresh  at  the  close  of  my 
Philosophy,  and  a  second  time  at  the   opening  of  this  work. 
Its  execution  will  be  my  last  effort  of  construction  ;  its  specific 
title  will  be :  System  of  Positive  Industry,  or.  Treatise  of  the 
aggregate  influence  of  Humanity  upon  her  Plainet.     Here  I 
must  content  myself  with  an  outline  of  this  work,  the  indis- 
pensable complement  of  the  normal  synthesis,  and  I  adopt  the 
same  method  as  in  the  previous  treatises. 

It  will  have,  as  all  the  others  have,  a  religious  introduction 
setting  forth  the  constant  dependence  of  the  concrete  on  the 
abstract  encyclopsedia,  setting  forth  also  the  synthetical  cha- 
racter of  the  volume,  a  volume  in  which  all  the  theories  of 
science  must  constantly  converge.  As,  however,  it  is  the  ex- 
ternal order  which  is  exclusively  the  province  of  industry,  the 
human  order  can  have  no  place  iu  the  volume,  except  as  being 


218      SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


Object  of 
this  Third 
Philosophy. 


FiiU  concep- 
tion of  the 
Positive 
Thjlosophy. 


necessarily  the  source  of  systematic  modifications.  The  two 
first  chapters  will  have,  then,  to  organise  this  general  relation, 
the  first  explaining  the  spiritual,  the  second  the  temporal  eco- 
nomy of  Positive  industry.  On  the  basis  of  the  two,  the  five 
following  chapters  will  deal  respectively  with  mathematical  ac- 
tion ;  astronomical  action  ;  physical  action ;  chemical  action ;  and 
biological  action,  the  action  of  animals  as  well  as  that  of  plants. 
The  work  will  thus  develope  the  homogeneity  shown  by  the 
First  Philosophy  inevitably  to  exist  between  the  classification 
of  the  arts  and  that  of  the  sciences,  allowing  for  the  fact  that 
the  first  is  limited  to  the  profane,  the  second  embraces  also 
the  sacred  sciences.  To  aid  us  in  this  construction,  the  insti- 
tution of  subjective  milieus  must  once  more  be  made  to  do 
service  as  an  instrument  of  teaching,  to  give  life  and  definite- 
ness  to  our  practical  conceptions,  the  sphere  of  which  is 
identical  with  its  own.  This  done,  the  synthetical  conclusion 
of  the  concrete  volume  will  confirm  the  religious  impression 
created  by  its  introduction,  by  noting  strongly  the  inadequacy, 
nay  even  the  danger,  of  this  outward  art  if  it  forget  its  sub- 
ordination to  the  art  which  concerns  man. 

Thus  arises  a  Third  Philosophy,  and  its  object  is  to  com- 
plete the  Second,  in  its  turn  the  offspring  of  the  First.  Devoting 
a  volume  to  the  First,  the  systematisation  of  the  Positive 
doctrine  may  ultimately  be  condensed  in  ten  volumes,  volumes 
embodying  the  essence  of  human  knowledge,  practical  or  scien- 
tific, allowing  for  special  developements,  oral  rather  than 
written. 

The  whole  chapter  issues  in  a  conception  of  the  Positive 
Philosophy,  of  greater  completeness  and  higher  unity  than 
could  havfe  been  hoped  for.  By  virtue  of  the  three  degrees 
of  generality  which  it  brings  into  combination,  the  develope- 
ment  of  this  conception  forms  the  gradual  transition  from  the 
sphere  of  feeling  to  that  of  activity,  in  accordance  with  the 
true  mission  of  the  intellect.  Such  a  result  is  corroborative  of 
my  synthetical  decision,  definitely  to  subordinate  the  doctrine 
to  the  worship,  the  better  to  institute  the  regime,  the  syste- 
matisation of  which  is  my  next  task. 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  219 


CHAPTEE   IV. 

GENEEAL    VIEW    OF   MAN's    ACTIVE    EXISTENCE, 

OK 

DEFINITIVE   STSTEMATISATION    OF    THE   POSITIVE   LIFE. 

In  instituting  the  Positive  Eeligion,  the  great  difiBculty  consists  ^^j^"'^^"' 
in  reconciling  sympathy  and  synthesis,  severally  cultivated  in  gime  to 

o      J      r         J  J  ^  J  combine 

the  worship  and  in  the   doctrine.      The  normal   combination  sympathy 

■*■  with  syn- 

of  the  two  is  the  grand  object  of  the  life,  which  is  dependent  in  wiesis. 
equal  degree  on  the  one  and  the  other.     It  is  in  this  way  that 
the  three  elements  of  the  true  religion  contribute  to  the  founda- 
tion of  Positive  unity,  by  the  simultaneous  aystematisation  of 
love,  faith,  and  action,  the  triple  basis  of  real  virtue. 

Were  it  not  for  the  exigencies  of  our  physical  condition,  the  Had  we  no 
worship  would   suffice  to  regulate  our  existence,  an  existence  wants,  the 

^  °  Worship 

devoted  exclusively,  as  it  would  then  be,  to  affection,  which  wouw  suffice 
the  worship  fosters.  Speculation,  as  a  part  of  our  life,  would 
be  confined  to  the  moral  laws  which  the  worship  reveals,  our 
action  to  the  esthetic  exercises  in  which  it  is  our  guide.  The 
stimulus  of  necessity  removed,  egoism  would  be  sufficiently 
lepressed,  so  great  is  the  all-pervading  charm  of  altruism. 
Even  the  instinct  of  domination  would  need  no  discipline,  for 
it  depends  for  growth  on  the  promptings  of  cupidity,  in  the 
inferiors  at  least,  if  not  in  the  governors.  Under  these  condi- 
tions, sympathy  would  lead  directly  to  the  establishment  of 
unity,  asking  for  no  synthesis  beyond  that  which  would  be  the 
natural  offspring  of  the  unbroken  supremacy  of  feeling  over 
intelligence  and  activity. 

As   it   is,    our    bodily  wants  necessitate   a    more   complex  Ourboduy 

,  .   ,     \  wants  ne- 

religion,  as  they  give  rise  to  a  form  of  existence  which,  first  cessitate  a 

.  .  morecom- 

from   the  practical,  then  from  the  theoretic  aspect,  does  not  piexre- 
«asily  harmonise  with  our  moral  existence.     The  ever  present 
obligation  to   modify   an   unpropitious    milieu    developes   an 
activity  which  in  its  initial  form  is  egoistic.     The  intellect 
thus  driven  to  the  study  of  the  environment  has  a  tendency  to 


220      SYSTEM   OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTURE  OF  MAH. 


Still,  even 
under  these 
conditiong, 
sympathetic 
unity  at- 
tainable. 


The  regime 
more  influ- 
ential than 
the  doctrine 
in  main- 
taining 
unity. 


Hence  the 
doctrine 
must  be 
subordina- 
ted to  the 
regime. 


forget  that  its  normal  attitude  is  one  of  subordination  to  the 
heart. 

This  same  existence,  however,  at  a  certain  stage  of  its  growth 
has  the  power  of  reproducing  unity,  relative  unity,  when  the 
doctrine  and  the  regime  are  so  far  developed  as  to  accord  with 
the  worship.  Our  study  of  the  laws  of  Physics  leads  us  to  the 
admission  of  the  laws  of  the  intellect,  the  link  between  them 
and  the  moral  laws.  Our  conception  of  the  universal  order, 
originally  limited  to  the  moral  laws,  becomes  in  this  way  com- 
plete and  systematic,  with  the  effect  of  subordinating  intellect 
to  feeling.  In  like  manner,  man's  active  life  requires  for  its 
full  developement  a  collective  advance,  which  of  itself  cultivates 
altruism.  This  moral  reaction  of  his  activity  at  first  affects 
veneration  only,  as  the  basis  of  discipline,  but  it  includes  subse- 
quently the  two  other  social  instincts,  in  proportion  as  the 
efforts  of  the  individual  are  found  to  conduce  to  the  welfare  of 
the  state,  nay  even  of  the  race.  Thus  ultimately  the  doctrine 
and  the  regime  converge  to  the  worship,  the  result  being  a  more 
complex,  but  also  a  more  highly  developed  unity,  than  one 
which  should  rest  simply  on  feeling.  The  stability  of  this 
unity  is  ensured  by  its  affording  a  legitimate  occupation  to  the 
powers  which  have  a  tendency  to  disturb  it,  and  it  employs  them 
by  devoting  them  to  its  own  consolidation. 

In  the  installation  and  maintenance  of  this  normal  state, 
the  share  of  the  regime  is  to  be  held  greater  than  that  of  the 
doctrine,  considering  its  more  natural  and  more  complete 
affinity  with  the  worship.  For  the  isolation  requisite  for  the 
cultivation  of  science  has  a  tendency  to  make  ns  despise,  or  at 
any  rate  neglect,  our  moral  life.  Nor  is  it  any  security  against 
this  error,  that  the  intellect  is  occupied  in  synthetical  investi- 
gations, and  that  with  a  directly  social  aim.  Action,  on  the 
contrary,  by  its  nature,  predisposes  us  to  sympathy,  as  it  never 
lets  us  lose  sight  of  the  necessity  of  others'  cooperation. 
Practical  life  stimulates  this  moral  influence,  even  when  analysis 
becomes  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  its  course,  by  the  ulti- 
mate predominance  of  the  industrial  life. 

Taking  into  account  this  difference  in  their  influence  on 
feeling  as  the  principle  of  unity,  the  doctrine  must  hold  a  subor- 
dinate position  in  relation  to  the  regime,  as  it  does  in  relation 
to  the  worship,  though  in  order  of  time  the  systematisation  of 
our  intellectual  must  precede  that  of  our  active  life,  as  it  is  to 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  22 1 

guide  the  latter.  The  most  important  part  of  the  Western  transi- 
tion— theEoman — made  contemplation  the  handmaid  of  action. 
Although  later  the  monotheistic  synthesis  impaired  this  relation, 
the  practical  instinct  of  man  has  upheld  it,  and  that  avowedly  in 
the  interest  of  feeling,  as  the  common  superior  alike  of  intellect 
and  activity.  Eetrograde  as  are  the  tendencies  of  modern  anarchy, 
the  whole  of  human  existence  has  so  fostered  the  previous  dispo- 
sition as  to  make  it  easy  for  the  Positive  religion  to  secure  the 
recognition  of  action  as  the  principal  minister  of  affection.  In 
the  normal  state,  it  is  only  in  the  developement  of  our  esthetic 
faculties  that  the  intellect  takes  precedence  of  action,  and  for 
them  we  should  interrupt  at  regular  intervals  the  ordinary  course 
of  practical  life.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  the  doctrine  completes  the 
worship  by  connecting  the  human  with  the  external  order,  on  the 
other  it  prepares  the  way  for  the  regime  by  systematising  man's 
submission  to,  and  interference  with,  the  world  without.  The 
object  thus  assigned  it  regulates  the  developement  of  the 
intellect,  guarding  it  against  the  misdirection  to  which,  if  left 
to  itself,  it  is  liable,  and  concentrating  it  on  the  great  problems. 

Action  then  becomes  the  best  guarantee  of  unity,  if  once  Action  the 
developed  on  such  a  scale  as  to  combine  faith  and  love,  teeofunity.' 
Maugre  their  natural  affinity,  sympathy  and  synthesis  tend  to 
diverge,  if  sympathy  degenerate  into  mystical  affections,  syn- 
thesis into  speculation  for  speculation's  sake.  Such  degenera- 
tion, such  divergence,  find  in  the  influence  of  action  their  only 
permanent  prevention  or  remedy.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  if  action  is  thus  to  regulate  and  combine  love  and 
faith,  it  can  only  do  so  when  it  takes  a  collective  character,  no 
other  being  compatible  with  the  predominance  of  the  heart  and 
the  free  growth  of  the  intellect.  Now,  the  essential  feature  in 
the  ultimate  regeneration  is  the  promotion  and  consolidation  of 
this  transformation  of  activity,  as  a  consequence  of  the  whole  of 
the  gradual  preparation  made  during  the  first  life  of  Humanity. 
Thus  the  solution  of  the  human  problem  is  drawn  from  the 
working  out  in  full  of  the  very  conditions  in  which  the  problem 
has  its  origin.  To  demonstrate  this  is  the  main  object  of  the 
present  chapter,  which  is  more  than  any  other  adapted  to  de- 
lineate the  genuine  system  of  the  Positive  religion. 

"Whilst  it  is  the  active  class  that  must  be  most  affected  by 
the  systematisation  of  the  regime,  whilst  it  depends  for  its 
attainment  principally  upon   women,   to   inaugurate    it   and  the'r^'imr 


The  theo- 
retical 
power  must} 


222     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.      THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Hence  the 
Priesthood 
must  be 
dwelt  on. 


Two  pre- 
liminary 
cautions, 
one  as  to  the 
numbers 
given,  the 
second  as  to 
the  assump- 
tion made. 


Constitution 
of  the  Priest- 
hood. 

Its  numbers 
limited. 


•  uphold  it  belongs  exclusively  to  the  spiritual  power.  It  is  on  this 
ground  that,  before  proceeding  farther,  I  must  here  explain  in 
detail  the  constitution  of  the  Positive  priesthood,  and  even  state 
its  fundamental  function  in  reference  to  the  common  education. 
These  two  points  determined,  we  then  form  a  direct  estimate  of 
the  definitive  systematisation  of  human  life,  in  relation  suc- 
cessively to  the  Individual,  the  Family,  and  the  State. 

So  intimate  is  the  correlation  between  the  constitution  of 
the  priesthood  and  the  system  of  education,  that  any  clear  defi- 
nition of  the  former  is  not  possible,  so  long  as  the  latter  remains 
undetermined.  But  in  the  '  Greneral  View  '  the  education  has 
already  been  explained,  so  that  I  may  here  proceed  to  examine 
the  former  question  in  which  are  necessarily  implicated  aU  parts 
of  the  regime. 

First,  however,  there  are  two  cautions  to  be  given,  applic- 
able equally  to  the  other  sections  of  this  chapter  and  even  of  the 
next.  The  first  relates  to  the  numbers  which  I  have  thought  it 
right  to  introduce  in  order  to  give  precision  to  our  conceptions, 
though  any  exact  determination  is  as  yet  unattainable.  "When 
the  necessary  data  are  obtained,  it  will  be  easy,  on  the  principles 
here  stated,  to  effect  the  requisite  corrections  in  my  primary 
estimates.  In  the  second  place,  in  my  exposition  of  the  life, 
just  as  in  those  of  the  doctrine  and  of  the  worship,  I  have  to 
keep  in  view  the  Positive  state  in  its  normal  plenitude ;  I 
assume  it,  that  is,  established  throughout  the  world.  It  belongs 
to  the  next  chapter,  the  determination  of  the  general  course  of 
its  advent  to  full  power ;  the  question  is  as  much  out  of 
place  here  as  it  would  have  been  in  social  statics.  For  clear- 
ness' sake,  however,  my  detailed  statements  wiU  bear  exclusively 
on  the  West,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term,  including  therein  its 
colonial  settlements;  this  gives  a  total  population  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  millions,  and  to  this  population  the  regene- 
ration will  at  first  be  confined.  We  must  multiply  the  numbers 
given  by  seven,  when  we  take  the  whole  race  into  account  (its 
amount  at  present  is  quintuple),  allowing  for  the  normal 
increase  of  the  nations  which  at  present  are  below  the  western 
rate  (sixty  inhabitants  to  the  square  kilometre). 

In  order  to  consolidate  the  separation  of  the  two  powers,  the 
general  basis  of  the  Positive  regime,  it  is  essential  to  Umit  the 
numbers  of  the  contemplative  class  as  far  as  is  consistent  with 
its  full  functions.     Without   this  reduction,  it  would  be  im- 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  223 

possible  to  secure  the  rare  combination  of  intellectual  and 
moral  qualities,  required  for  the  priesthood  of  Humanity,  the 
extent  of  which  must  be  determined  with  especial  reference 
to  the  encyclbpsedic  instruction  which  completes  and  systematises 
Positive  education.  I  have  already  stated  that  this  instruction 
will  occupy  seven  years,  during  which  each  pupil  remains 
throughout  under  the  same  teacher,  teaching,  be  it  added,  both 
sexes,  though  in  separate  classes. 

Each  Positive  school,  then,  will  require  seven  priests,  and  in  Beqnire- 
addition  three  vicars,  in  order  that  the  philosophical  presbytery  eaohPoai- 
may  suffice  for  the  demands  of  the  worship  ;  of  preaching ;  and 
of  consultation,  on  moral,  intellectual,  or  even  physical  questions. 
The  scheme  already  referred  to  binds  each  professor,  as  a  rule, 
to  two  lectures  only  "in  each  week  during  ten  months  of  the 
Positivist  year,  besides  a  month  of  examination.  Every  school 
is  annexed  to  the  temple  of  the  district,  as  is  the  presbytery, 
the  residence  of  the  ten  members  of  the  sacerdotal  college  and 
of  their  families,  with  the  senior  member  for  president,  and 
with  a  separation  of  residence  for  the  vicars  from  the  priests. 

On  these   data,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  spiritual  wants  of  Twenty 

■^  thousand 

the  "West  may  be  duly  met  by  a  corporation  of  twenty  thousand  lequired  for 
philosophers,  of  whom  France  would  have  the  fourth.      This  Thetcmpies, 

■*■  ^  one  for  ten 

rate  is  equivalent .  to  havmg  a  temple  for  every  ten  thousand  thousand 
families,  each  family  consisting  of  seven  members,  in  agree- 
ment with  a  law  to  be  explained  later.  Positive  religion  by  its 
nature  admits  of  this  great  reduction  of  the  contemplative  class, 
though  its  duties  are  more  extensive  than  those  of  the  analogous 
class  under  any  Theologism.  Always  demonstrable  and  never 
ambiguous,  its  precepts  will  but  seldom  require  explanation  from 
the  priests,  remembering  the  universal  diffusion  of  systematic 
instruction,  which  will  often  enable  women  and  the  elders  to 
supply  the  place  of  the  priest  in  counsel.  With  a  view  to 
their  more  entire  concentration  on  the  duties  of  teaching  and 
worship,  the  philosophical  class  will  be  freed  from  all  material 
cares,  each  temple  being  placed  under  the  protection  of  the 
nearest  banker,  on  whom  it  devolves  to  maintain  the  fabric  and 
the  priests. 

The  Positivist  clergy  must  be  recruited  from  all  classes,  by  Modeotre- 

^  ,  ■         •    1  ,     ,  1  ■   •         IT  cruitment  of 

coaferrinsf,  at  the  age  ot  twenty-eight,  the  provisional  degree  of  the  posi- 

•        i  I,     ■      4.1.         uf      Tc    ^  f       1.1.  ■     i.1,       J      tivist  clergy. 

aspirant  on  anyone  who  is  thought  qualihed  tor  the  priesthood, 
on  a  judgment  of  his  scientific  noviciate,  and  of  the  subsequent 


224     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 

period  of  unfettered  action.  Equally  unfettered  is  the  period 
of  training  for  the  priestly  office,  under  the  moral  and  intellec- 
tual surveillance  of  the  senior  member  of  the  nearest  college ; 
a  yearly  stipend  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  being 
allowed,  but  not  beyond  the  age  of  thirty-five  at  the  farthest, 
that  being  the  normal  age  for  the  vicariate.  It  is  with  this 
office  that  begin  the  functions  and  obligations  of  the  priest- 
hood, restricted,  however,  to  education  and  purely  private  con- 
sultations. From  the  vicars  are  chosen  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
the  priests  of  Humanity,  the  sole  possessors  of  the  full  spiritual 
power,  under  the  control  of  the  high  priest.  Although  each 
priest  has  first  been  vicar,  nay  even  aspirant,  in  exceptional 
cases  the  supreme  head  of  the  Positivist  clergy  may  confer  the 
vicariate,  nay  even  the  priesthood,  on  any  whom  he  may  deem 
to  fulfil  the  essential  conditions,  without  reciuiring  the  regular 
course,  '^ver  and  above  the  intellectual  and  moral  tests, 
marriage,  at  any  rate  in  the  subjective  form  of  the  institution, 
is  binding  upon  all  priests,  that  they  may  be  under  the  full 
influence  of  affection ;  they  also  renounce  all  property  by  inherit- 
ance, the  better  to  ensure  the  complete  abandonment  of  all 
idea  of  temporal  greatness.  An  official  residence  being  pro- 
vided, for  their  subsistence  the  vicar  and  the  priest  depend  on 
a  yearly  stipend  of  two  hundred  and  forty  pounds  for  the  vicar, 
four  hundred  and  eighty  for  the  priest,  plus  their  expenses  for 
visitations  and  journeys. 
,4rtistic  and  Not  included  in  the  priesthood,  but  within  the  limits  of  the 

^nsionets.  contemplative  class,  a  suitable  existence  must  be  offered  to 
those  who,  by  the  peculiarity  of  their  constitution,  are  in  heart 
and  character  below  the  level  of  their  intellect.  These  pen- 
sioners, artists  or  savans,  without  any  restriction  as  to  number, 
receive  annually,  according  to  each  case,  the  stipends  of  the 
aspirant,  the  vicar,  or  the  priest.  Moreover,  the  central  priest- 
hood provides  for  the  expenses  their  works  involve,  in  order  that 
they  may  freely  develope  the  incomplete  powers  they  have, 
without  obtaining  the  consideration  which  is  due  to  the  spiritual 
power. 
The  High  The  whole  spiritual  hierarchy  is  immediately  and  uninter- 

SSanity.  mittingly  under  the  influence  of  the  High  Priest  of  Humanity ; 
he  names,  transfers,  suspends,  and  even  discards,  on  his  sole 
responsibility,  any  of  its  members.  Normally  the  residence  of 
the  pontiff  must  be  Paris,  as  the  metropolis  of  the  West,  but 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  225 

never  with  any  share  in  the  government  of  the  holy  city.  But, 
in  order  to  ensure  the  noble  simplicity  demanded  by  such  a 
supremacy,  his  annual  income  is  only  fivefold  that  of  the 
ordinary  priests,  exclusive  of  the  expenses  incident  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  central  budget. 

The  vastness  of  his  office  makes  it  necessary  for  the  Pontiff  his  seven 
of  the  West  to  call  habitually  to  his  aid  seven  national  superiors,  "^^  *° 
each  with  a  salary  the  half  of  his,  over  and  above  his  necessary 
expenses.  Four  are  allotted,  one,  to  each  province,  to  Italy, 
Spain,  Great  Britain,  and  Germany,  which  will  always  remain 
distinct  by  their  history,  if  not  in  language,  after  the  normal 
disgregation  of  the  actual  nationalities.  The  three  others  are 
reserved  for  the  colonial  settlements  of  the  West,  no  assistant 
being  named  for  France,  to  which  the  High-Priest,  as  in  direct 
contact,  can  pay  sufficient  attention. 

But  the  number  will  naturally  be  increased  in  proportion  as  The  number 
the  Positive  religion  advances  towards  its  normal  state  ■  of  univer-  forty-ntoe. 
sality.  This  eminent  branch  of  the  priesthood  will,  then,  furnish 
forty-nine  members  when  mankind  is  completely  regenerated. 
Besides  their  ordinary  duty,  on  them  it  will  devolve,  on  the 
death  or  retirement  of  the  Pontiff,  to  influence  or  correct  the 
choice  he  will  have  freely  made  of  his  successor,  with  regard  to 
whom  they  will  consult,  if  need  be,  the  whole  of  the  senior 
members  of  the  colleges  within  their  respective  jurisdiction. 

As  for  the  dress  of  the  priesthood,  ia  public  or  private.  The  dress  of 
imitating  the  judicious  reserve  of  the  founders  of  Catholicism  *'^^^™^'' 
and  Islam,  I  prefer  to  adjourn  a  determination  which  if  it  is 
to  be  effective,  must  be  completely  spontaneous.  We  may  be 
confident,  however,  that,  from  the  definiteness  of  Positivism  as 
compared  with  any  form  of  Theologism,  the  appropriate  modifi- 
cations in  dress  will  be  of  more  rapid  introduction.  The  form 
of  its  clothing  will  remind  people,  that  the  priesthood,  by  its 
true  position  intermediate  between  the  sexes,  has  more  affinity 
with  the  female  sex ;  and  the  colour  will  show  that  it  speaks  in 
the  name  of  the  past,  in  the  interest  of  the  future.  Whilst  dis- 
organising costume,  the  anarchy  of  modern  times  has  instinc- 
tively respected  the  distinction  of  the  sexes,  and  therein  lies 
the  germ  of  discipline  for  the  less  strongly  marked  cases.  The 
reorganisation  of  costume  should  naturally  begin  with  the 
clergy,  as,  in  its  social  character,  more  homogeneous  and  better 
defined  than  the  patriciate  or  the  proletariate. 

VOL.  IV.  Q 


226     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FtJTtTEE  OP  MAN. 

spiritnai  It  is  in  virtue  of  its  eminently  synthetical  nature  that 

tion.  the  spiritual  power  allows,  nay,  even  requires  the   plenitude 

of  centralisation  just  described.  Since  the  priestly  function  is. 
essentially  one  and  the  same  for  all  priests,  it  might,  as  in  the 
beginning,  so  for  ever,  be  discharged  by  one  single  person,  pro- 
vided that  he  could  make  himself  felt  everywhere.  The  plu- 
rality of  organs  in  the  spiritualty  being,  if  closely  examined, 
solely  to  compensate  the  deficiency  due  to  the  vast  extension  of 
the  service,  they  should  be  in  such  subordination  to  their  head 
that  their  class  image  forth  the  unity  entrusted  to  his  charge. 
He  is  the  priesthood,  and,  at  need,  could  change  all  its  members, 
leaving  the  spiritual  organism  intact.  The  Papacy,  at  all 
times  hampered  by  the  college  of  cardinals,  and  often  liable  to 
Councils,  was  never  able  to  attain  the  ascendancy  which  will 
be  allowed  the  Pontificate  of  Humanity,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  ripeness  of  things  for  the  separation  of  the  two 
powers. 
The  depend-  ^^  Order  to  Consolidate  the  concentration  which  is  natural 

cendaMy^f  ^'^  ^^^  sociocratic  clergy,  the  individuality  of  its  members, 
whilst  more  strongly  marked  than  that  in  the  theocratic  priest- 
hood, must  be  limited  to  the  requirements  of  personal  dignity,  of 
fair  emulation,  and  above  all  of  a  just  responsibility.  Eenouncing 
power  in  every  shape,  renouncing  even  wealth,  the  priests  of 
Humanity  are  not  exposed  to  the  great  causes  of  disagreement. 
Their  function  is  to  direct  opinion  ;  they  therefore  shun 
command,  the  better  to  give  effect  to  the  powers  of  conviction 
and  persuasion.  Devoting  himself  to  the  supreme  interpreter 
of  the  Great  Being,  each  priest  feels  that  he  shares  in  the  most 
extensive  power,  a  power  before  which  aU  temporal  greatness 
sinks  into  the  shade,  for  that  is  the  attribute  of  the  class  which 
bends  the  wills  of  men  without  regulating  them.  The  modest 
income  on  which  the  priests  depend  for  subsistence  is  always 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  very  chiefs  whom  they  have  to  dis- 
cipline, and  whose  capricious  action  will  often  leave  them  no 
resource  but  the  voluntary  contributions  of  sincere  believers. 
Nothing,  however,  can  deprive  the  Positive  clergy  of  its  incom- 
parable privilege,  that  of  representing  to  the  actual  generation 
the  two  subjective  portions  of  Humanity.  The  noble  contrast 
the  priesthood  thus  presents  between  dependence  and  ascen- 
dancy is  most  pronounced  in  the  case  of  the  High-Priest,  for 
he,  a  simple  citizen  of  the  metropolis  of  man,  with  a  salary 


the  Priest 
hood. 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  227 

inferior  to  the  income  of  the  poorest  banker,  yet  exercises  by 
free  assent  an  universal  influence. 

With  the  object  of  completing  the  purifying  process  begun  No  profit  to 
in  the  renunciation  of  all  inheritance,  it  is  essential  that  the  by  the 
priests  of  Humanity  forego  any  profit  to  themselves  derivable  their  writing 
from  their  labours.  All  intellectual  services  should  be  public 
and  gratuitous.  It  is  incumbent  on  the  contemplative  class  to 
offer  the  others  the  constant  example  of  a  wise  moderation  in 
the  use  of  speech,  writing,  and  above  all  of  the  press,  so  greatly 
abused  during  the  period  of  anarchy.  The  greater  part  of 
the  ideas  of  everyday  application  are  to  be  transmitted  by 
tradition,  by  practice  and  in  silence,  books  being  reserved 
for  the  communication  of  any  real  advance  in  om-  abstract 
and  general  conceptions.  Still,  all  allowance  made  for  its 
habitual  duties,  the  priesthood  of  Sociocracy  will  unavoidably 
write  more  than  the  clergy  of  the  Theocracy.  But  the  cost  of 
printing  the  works  thus  produced  is  met  by  the  pontifical 
treasury ;  their  distribution  being  left  to  the  authors,  whose 
name  is  to  be  given  in  all  cases,  and  who  are  under  a  solemn 
obligation  never  to  sell  them.  The  promise  to  this  effect, 
exacted  from  the  priest  at  his  consecration,  and  renewed  on 
each  publication,  is  so  essential  to  the  dignity  of  the  clergy, 
that  the  High-Priest  will  revoke  the  priest  who  shall  have 
thrice  broken  it,  accepting  him  however  as  a  pensioner,  if  he 
has  sufficient  intellectual  value. 

The  rule  must  apply  further  to  all  their  teaching,  be  it  in  Nor  from 
order  to  prevent  the  degradation  of  the  theoretic  class,  be  it  in  ing. 
order  to  save  the  children  of  the  wealthy  from  private  instruc- 
tion, which  a  foolish  pride  leads  the  rich  to  substitute  for 
public.  The  public  teaching  ought  always  to  suffice,  allowing 
for  the  explanation  which,  exceptionally,  each  priest  will  give 
gratuitously  to  the  pupils  he  shall  judge  worthy  of  special 
attention.  Private  teaching,  fallen  into  tlie  hands  of  theori- 
cians  who  have  failed  of  admission  into  the  priesthood,  even  as 
pensioners,  will  be  so  discredited  as  to  be  no  disturbance  of  the 
systematic  instruction. 

It  is  the  more  important  to  secure  this  result,  as  we  have  no  Teaching 
other  protection  for  the  official  teaching  under  a  regime  which  priesthood 
will  always  keep    spiritual  discipline  clear   of  all   oppressive  Jorbiaden. 
temporal  action.     "Whilst  the  state  furnishes  the  priesthood  the 
means  for  giving  instruction  to  the  full  extent  to  all,  it  must 

Q  2 


228     SYSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTUEE  OF  MAN. 


Educational 
Function  of 
tlie  Priest- 
hood. 


The  object 
ol;  the  Posi- 
tire  Educa- 
tion. 


Complete 

preparatory 

period. 

twenty-eight 

y^ars. 


abstain  from  throwing  difficulties  in  the  way  either  of  indi- 
viduals or  societies  if  they  wish  to  enter  into  legitimate  compe- 
tition with  the  public  schools.  Persistent  however  as  must  be 
our  respect  for  liberty  in  teaching,  such  liberty  will  exist  in 
principle  rather  than  in  practice,  unless  the  regular  teaching 
become  altogether  degenerate,  a  condition  of  things  which  the 
spiritual  head  of  Humanity  may  guard  against  or  remedy  by 
remodelling  at  need  his  whole  clergy. 

Such  are  the  introductory  observations  I  was  bound  to  offer 
here  on  the  special  constitution  of  the  Positive  priesthood.  They 
will  be  complemented  in  the  natural  course  of  things  as  I 
explain  its  regular  intervention  throughout  the  regime.  But 
without  this  introduction  to  the  whole,  the  several  particulars 
could  not  have  the  requisite  precision  and  clearness. 

The  next  point  to  examine  is  the  principal  function  of  the 
Positivist  clergy,  and  for  this  I  delineate  the  education  which  it 
reduces  to  a  system.  The  essential  outlines  of  this  exposition 
were  given  in  the  '  Greneral  View,'  so  that  all  that  is  here 
required  is  to  complete,  coordinate,  and  above  all  to  summarise 
it,  with  such  minor  corrections  as  have  been  from  time  to 
time,  not  unnaturally,  suggested  by  the  course  of  the  present 
work. 

Positive  education  founds  the  true  unity,  by  teaching  us  to 
live  for  others.  Its  aim  being  to  fit  us  for  the  imintermitting 
service  of  Humanity,  it  remains  above  all  moral,  even  when  most 
intellectual  in  character.  Eased  on  the  innate  existence  of  the 
sympathetic  instincts,  it  subjects  to  them  the  personal  instincts, 
during  the  period  of  life  in  which  the  natural  predominance  of 
these  latter  is  very  largely  kept  in  check,  owing  to  the  pro- 
vidential interposition  which  frees  us  from  the  necessity  of 
acting. 

This  educational  preparation,  continuing  till  twenty-one,  is 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  one  private,  the  other  public,  the 
point  of  separation  being  the  age  of  puberty — at  fourteen.  The 
first  part  has  for  its  object  the  cultivation  of  the  affections,  the 
second  that  of  faith  ;  the  first  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
mother,  the  second  under  that  of  the  priest ;  the  two  together 
issue  in  a  period  of  free  action  dui'ing  a  complementary  period 
of  seven  years.  Twenty-eight  years,  then,  are  allotted  to  the 
training  of  the  individual,  and  the  beginning,  two  principal 
phases,  and  close,  are  distinctly  marked  in  the  four  first  sacra- 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  LIFE,  229 

ments,  in  which  the  child  of  the  Great  Being  gradually  passes 
into  the  servant. 

That  servant  is  hy  marriage  directly  consecrated  to  social  Education 

•^  *-'  ,  proper 

existence  ;   and  then  enters  on  a  last  period  of  fourteen  years,  umitea  to 

.    .  .  ,     ,     twenty-one 

during  which  the  exercise  of  his  activity  as  a  citizen  is  needed  years. 

•^  ''  Wider  sense 

to  complete  his  preparatory  life.  As,  however,  both  this  last  of  the  term. 
and  even  the  preceding  phase  are  periods  of  full  liberty,  I  would 
not  include  them  under  education  properly  so  called,  as  that 
always  implies  a  state  of  tutelage.  An  additional  reason  for 
excluding  them  is  their  being  confined  to  the  active  sex, 
whereas  the  first  half  of  our  preparatory  life  is  common  to  both 
sexes.  It  is  the  combination  of  these  two  characteristics, 
universality  and  minority,  that  must  fix  the  sense  of  an  ill- 
defined  term,  which  in  its  widest  acceptation  may  embrace  the 
whole  of  our  objective  life,  considered  as  a  course  of  preparation 
for  our  subjective  existence.  In  this  last  sense  its  use  is  proper 
only  in  the  work  already  promised ;  there  education  will  be  the 
name  for  every  preparation  under  the  guidance,  first,  of  the 
Family,  then,  of  the  Country,  lastly,  of  Humanity. 

Eestricting  the  term  here  to  its  more  usual  acceptation,  I  "^^^J^^ 
have,  in  the  first  place,  to  explain  the  private  phase  of  Educa-  Education 
tion.  The  second  dentition  divides  it  into  two  equal  portions ; 
the  one  essentially  affective  ;  th  second  that  in  which  begins 
the  cultivation  of  the  intellect,  under  the  direction  of  the 
mother,  through  esthetic  studies.  Hence  the  subdivision  of 
the  whole  of  education,  properly  so  called,  into  three  septennial 
periods,  the  distinction  between  which,  clearly  indicated  in  all 
the  Western  languages,  is  most  strongly  marked  in  Spanish,  in 
the  names  Nino,  Muchacho,  and  Mozo,  with  their  derivatives. 

The  first  of  these  periods  must  be  held  the  most  decisive.  The  first 

septennial 

since  then  it  is  that  the  mother  s  discipline  lays  so  firm  a  foun-  period  the 

f^  most  deci- 

dation  of  morality  that  the  rest  of  life  is  seldom  able  to  affect  sive.  Moral 

^  training. 

it.  Then  it  is  that,  sheltered  from  the  egoism  of  action,  the  worship  of 
three  sympathetic  instincts  grow  beyond  recall,  more  particu- 
larly veneration,  but  also  benevolence,  for  which,  even  in  this 
dependent  state,  there  is  a  sufficient  sphere.  From  the  moment 
of  birth,  all  worship  during  this  period  is  condensed  in  the 
adoration  of  the  mother,  the  only  Providence  which  infancy  can 
or  ought  to  recognise.  The  consciousness  of  the  Great  Being, 
however,  comes  instinctively  as  soon  as  language  begins,  for  its 
transmission  by  the  mother  is  an  indication  of  its  social  origin, 


the  Mother. 


230     S'XSTEM  OF  POSITIVE  POLITY.     THE  FUTURE  OF  MAN. 


IntsUigenoe 
trained. 


The  second 
period  from 
seven  to 
fourteen. 
Training 
Esthetic. 


The  Univer- 
sal Lan- 
guage. 


an  indication  speedily  confirmed  by  the  whole  of  the  child's 
relations  with  others.  The  distinction  between  the  mother  and 
Humanity  does  not  interfere  with  the  unity  of  the  child's 
worship,  for  the  mother  even  at  this  early  age  becomes  the 
personification  of  Humanity,  in  which  at  that  time  the  Country 
is  lost. 

Although  the  education  of  the  infant  is  almost  exclusively 
moral,  the  intelligence  is  awakened  by  the  observation  of  beings, 
guided  by  a  purely  Fetichist  synthesis,  all  interference  with 
which  must  be  carefully  avoided.  Under  the  influence  of  this 
synthesis,  as  emotional  as  it  is  intellectual,  the  first  beginnings 
of  the  true  logic  are  traceable  in  the  combination  of  feelings 
with  images,  soon  aided  by  signs.  Thus  is  attained  in  its 
simplest  form  cerebTal  unity,  wherein  activity,  with  no  outward 
object  to  secure,  subserves  the  intelligence  to  express  emotions. 

This  form  persists  during  the  second  period  of  childhood, 
but  with  a  tendency  then  to  the  more  complex  unity  re- 
quired in  real  life,  because  the  child  is  now  in  contact  with 
others  outside  the  Family,  the  only  collective  being  originally 
within  its  cognizance.  This  enlarged  contact  is  a  conse- 
quence in  especial  of  its  esthetic  studies,  then  entered  upon 
on  the  basis  of  the  images  derived  from  the  first  period. 
Although  these  studies  in  the  main  should  be  left  to  the  child 
itself,  the  mother's  care  prepares  the  way  for  the  normal  dis- 
cipline, by  instituting  the  practice  of  exercises  in  poetry,  in 
music,  and  in  drawing,  even  prior  to  reading  and  writing. 
When,  by  the  acquisition  of  these  last,  full  communication 
is  established,  the  child  enters  at  once  on  the  knowledge  of 
the  Great  Being,  through  admiration  of  its  master  works, 
in  spite  of  the  diversity  of  languages,  ancient  or  modern. 
From  familiarity  with  this  difference,  there  dawns  the  idea  of 
Country  in  the  widest  sense,  hitherto  undistinguished  from 
Humanity,  but  henceforward  characterised  by  language,  even 
when  the  difference  has  become  purely  a  matter  of  history,  in 
consequence  of  the  universal  adoption  finally  of  the  Positive 
language.  Indeed,  in  the  normal  state,  the  study  by  all  of  the 
seven  languages  which  presided  over  the  three  grand  phases  of 
the  Western  transition  must  never  be  suppressed.  Apart  from 
the  imperishable  monuments  which  are  their  consecration, 
their  spontaneous  concurrence  will  always  remain  indispensable 
to  the  complete  creation  of  the  language  of  mankind,  a  direct 


Ohap,  IV.]  THE  LIFE.  231 

outgrowth  of  the  fusion  of  the  five  modern  languages,  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Italian  as  the  most  musical. 

During  the  second  period,  the  moral  education  given  by  Moral  tram- 
the  fir.st  is  carried  on,  by  virtue  of  the  influence  on  the  affections  second  pc- 
exerted  by  the  esthetic  culture.  From  the  relation  between  the 
two  we  must  draw  the  best  criterion  of  the  intellectual  advance, 
instinctively  directed  towards  the  perfecting  of  the  personal 
cultus,  the  formation  of  which  comes  now  to  be  distinctly  trace- 
able. A  prayer,  a  hymn,  a  drawing,  in  honour  of  the  mother, 
will  evidence,  by